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:-CONTENTS-:
1. Introduction
2. Nuclear energy in India
3. Working principle
4. Parts of nuclear reactor
5. Principle of reactor control
6. Types of reactor
7. Choice of cycle conversion
8. Advantage
9. Disadvantage
10. Nuclear and chemical accidents
11. Conclusion

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Why nuclear energy came into

account:
Conventional thermal power stations use oil or coal as the source
as the source of energy. The reserves of these fuels are becoming
depleted in many countries and thus there is a tendency to seek
alternative sources of energy. In a nuclear power station instead of
a furnace there is a nuclear reactor, in which heat is generated by
splitting atoms of radioactive material under suitable conditions.
For economical use in a power system a nuclear power station
generally has to be large and where large units are justifiable.

Nuclear power plants provide about 17 percent of the world's

electricity. Some countries depend more on nuclear power for
electricity than others. In France, for instance, about 75 percent of
the electricity is generated from nuclear power, according to the
International Atomic Energy Agency
so that . In the United States, nuclear power supplies about 15
percent of the electricity overall, but some states get more power
from nuclear plants than others. There are more than 400 nuclear
power plants around the world, with more than 100 in the United
States.

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Nuclear power station in India:

In India, it was Dr. H. J. Bhabha who put India on the road to
nuclear research, more than two decades ago. At present India
have four nuclear power plants.
Tarapur
Rana Pratap Sagar
Kalpakkam
Narora

Tarapur: This is the first power plant of India. It has two boiling
water reactors each of 200 Me W capacity and each uses enriched
U as fuel.
Rana Pratap Sagar: It is situated at Rajasthan.
Kalpakkam: It is situated at Tamil Nadu.
Narora: It is at U. P.

Main parts of a nuclear power

station:
The main parts of a nuclear power station are
Nuclear reactor
Heat exchanger
Steam turbine
Condenser
Generator

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Working:
In a reactor heat is produced by the fissioning or splitting of
uranium atoms. A cooling medium takes up this heat and delivers
it to the heat exchanger, where steam for the turbine is raised.
When the uranium atoms split, there is radiation as well, the
reactor and its cooling circuit must be heavily shielded against
radiation hazards.
Large electrical generating plants which provide most of our
electricity all work on the same principle - they are giant steam
engines. Power plants use heat supplied by a fuel to boil water and
make steam, which drives a generator to make electricity. A
generating plant's fuel, whether it is coal, gas, oil or uranium, heats
water and turns it into steam. The pressure of the steam spins the
blades of a giant rotating metal fan called a turbine. That turbine
turns the shaft of a huge generator. Inside the generator, coils of
wire and magnetic fields interact - and electricity is produced.

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Parts of Nuclear Reactor:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

nuclear fuel
reactor core
moderator
control rods
reflector
reactor vessel
biological shielding
coolant

Nuclear fuel:
Fuel of a reactor should be fissionable material which can be
defined as a fissionable material which can be defined as an
element or isotope whose nuclei can be caused to undergo nuclear
fission nuclear bombardment and to produce a fission chain
reaction.
The fuels used are: U238, U235, U 234, UO2
Fertile materials, those which can be transformed into fissile
materials, cannot sustain chain reactions. When a fertile material
is hit by neutrons and absorbs some of them, it is converted to
fissile material.U238 and Th 232 are examples of fertile materials used
for reactor purposes.
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Reactor core:
This contains a number of fuel rods made of fissile material.
Moderator:
This material in the reactor core is used to moderate or to
reduce the neutron speeds to a value that increases the probability
of fission occurring.
Control rods:
The energy inside the reactor is controlled by the control rod.
These are in cylindrical or sheet form made of boron or cadmium.
These rods can be moved in and out of the holes in the reactor core
assembly.
Reflector:
This completely surrounds the reactor core within the
thermal shielding arrangement and helps to bounce escaping
neutrons back into the core. This conserves the nuclear fuel.
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Reactor vessel:
It is a strong walled container housing the core of the power
reactor. It contains moderate, reflector, thermal shielding and
control rods.
Biological shielding:
Shielding helps in giving protection from the deadly - and
-particle radiations and -rays as well as neutrons given off by
the process of fission within the reactor.
Coolant:
This removes heat from the core produced by nuclear
reaction. The types of coolants used are carbon dioxide, air,
hydrogen, helium, sodium or sodium potassium.

Principle of reactor control:

When a nucleus captures a neutron the resulting compound
nucleus is unstable. It splits into two fragments, releases energy
and ejects some neutrons. If conditions are favorable, neutrons
ejected by the first fission may be captured by other nuclei and the
chain reaction begins. If the energy output from a reactor is to be
maintained constant, one neutron and not more than one from
each fission must split another nucleus(multiplication factor, k=1)
Otherwise control of chain reaction will not be possible.
The principal law of nuclear energy is E = mc2
Where W-Energy (joules)
m- Mass (kilograms)
c- Speed of light (3*108m/sec)
The main reactions inside a reactor are
238
U92 + 1n0 239U92 +
239
U92 has a half life period of 23.5 min only and hence it is
unstable.
239
U92 + 0e-1 239Np93
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239

Np93 again has a short half life and emits -particles.

239
Np93 + 0e-1 239Pu94

Types of reactors:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

boiling water reactor

pressurized water reactor
pressurize heavy water reactor
gas cooled reactor
advanced gas cooled reactor
light water graphite reactor
fast breeder reactor
high temperature gas cooled reactor
CANDU type reactor

What types of reactors are there?

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All nuclear reactors operate on the same basic principle, but

various designs are in use throughout the world.

Choice of cycle conversion:

1. A well established method of conversion of heat due to nuclear
reaction to electric power by the direct use of the coolant. The
reactor heat is transferred to the coolant, which heats water to
produce steam for driving the turbine or other heat engine.
2. Another method for conversion of heat produced in the reactor
to electric power is the direct use of liquid or as that cools the
reactor to drive the turbine or other heat engine, which in turn
drives the electric generator.
3. Direct generation of electric current from the heat produced
during the nuclear reaction. An example of this type of
conversion is the production of electric current by means of
thermocouples.
4. Direct generation of electric current from electrons produced
during a nuclear reaction.

Advantages of Nuclear Power

Plant:
1. Space requirement of a nuclear power plant is less as
compared to other conventional power plants of equal size.

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2. A nuclear power plant consumes very small quantity of fuel.

Thus fuel transportation cost is less and large fuel storage
facility is not needed.
3. There is increased reliability of operation.
4. Nuclear power plants are not affected by adverse weather
conditions.
5. Nuclear power plants are well suited to meet large power
demands. They give better performance at higher load
factors (80-90%).
6. Materials expenditure on metal structures, piping, storage
mechanisms are much lower for a nuclear power plant than a
coal burning power plant.
7. It does not require large quantity of water.

Disadvantages:
1. Initial cost of nuclear power plant is higher as compared to
hydro or steam power plant.
2. Nuclear power plants are not well suited for varying load
conditions.
3. Radioactive wastes if not disposed carefully may have bad
effect on the health of workers and other population.
4. Maintenance cost of the plant is high.
5. It requires trained personnel to handle nuclear power plants.

Nuclear and Chemical Accidents

1952
Dec. 12, Chalk River, nr. Ottawa, Canada: a partial
meltdown of the reactor's uranium fuel core resulted after
the accidental removal of four control rods. Although
millions of gallons of radioactive water accumulated inside
the reactor, there were no injuries.
1953
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Love Canal, nr. Niagara Falls, N.Y.: was destroyed by waste

from chemical plants. By the 1990s, the town had been
cleaned up enough for families to begin moving back to the
area.
1957
Oct. 7, Windscale Pile No. 1, north of Liverpool, England:
fire in a graphite-cooled reactor spewed radiation over the
countryside, contaminating a 200-square-mile area.
South Ural Mountains: explosion of radioactive wastes at
Soviet nuclear weapons factory 12 mi from city of Kyshtym
forced the evacuation of over 10,000 people from a
contaminated area. No casualties were reported by Soviet
officials.
1976
nr. Greifswald, East Germany: radioactive core of reactor in
the Lubmin nuclear power plant nearly melted down due to
the failure of safety systems during a fire.
1979

March 28, Three Mile Island, nr. Harrisburg, Pa.: one of two
reactors lost its coolant, which caused overheating and
partial meltdown of its uranium core. Some radioactive
later and gases were released. This was the worst accident in
U.S. nuclear-reactor history

1984
Dec. 3, Bhopal, India: toxic gas, methyl isocyanate, seeped
from Union Carbide insecticide plant, killed more than 2,000,
injured about 150,000.
1986

April 26, Chernobyl, nr. Kiev, Ukraine: explosion and fire in

the graphite core of one of four reactors released radioactive
material that spread over part of the Soviet Union, eastern
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Europe, Scandinavia, and later western Europe. 31 claimed

dead. Total casualties are unknown. Worst such accident to
date.
1987

1999

2004

Sept. 18, Goinia, Brazil: 244 people contaminated with

cesium-137 from a cancer-therapy machine that had been
sold as scrap. Four people died in worst radiation disaster in
Western Hemisphere.
Sept. 30, Tokaimura, Japan: uncontrolled chain reaction in a
uranium-processing nuclear fuel plant spewed high levels of
radioactive gas into the air, killing two workers and seriously
injuring one other.
Aug. 9, Mihama, Japan: non-radioactive steam leaked from a
nuclear power plant, killing four workers and severely
burning seven others.

Conclusion:
Widely used nuclear energy can be of great benefit for mankind. It
can bridge the gap caused by inadequate coal and oil supply. It
should be used to as much extent as possible to solve power
problem. With further developments, it is likely that the cost of
nuclear power stations will be lowered and that they will soon be
competitive. With the depletion of fuel reserves and the question
of transporting fuel over long distances, nuclear power stations
are taking an important place in the development of the power
potentials of the nations of the world today in the context of the
changing pattern of power .

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:-REFERENCE-:
BOOKS:ELEMENTS OF POWER STATION DESIGN
( BY M. V. DESHPANDE )
POWER PLANT ENGINEERING
(

BY G. R. NAGPAL )

INTERNET:

http://www.google.co.in
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001457.html
http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/nuclear.htm
http://www.howstuffswork.com

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