UNIT 4

1. Boiling Water Reactor (BWR)

BWR is the abbreviation for the Boiling Water Reactor. Commercial BWR
reactors may be found in Finland, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Taiwan. Current BWR reactors have electrical
outputs of 570 to 1300
MWe with an efficiency of about 33%
Fuel: Pellets of enriched uranium oxide (UO2) are arranged in zirconium tubes to
form fuel rods. The rods are arranged into fuel assemblies in the reactor core.
BWR fuel assembly comprises 90-100 fuel rods, and there are up to 750 assemblies
in a reactor core, holding up to 140 tonnes of uranium.
Control rods: Control Rods (boron rods) are used to maintain an uniform power
distribution across the reactor during normal operation and shutdown the reactor
during Containment cooling System emergencies. The BWR is unique in that
the control rods are inserted from the bottom by a high pressure hydraulically
operated system.
Moderator. Pure water is used as Moderator in BWR. Moderator is a material
which slows down the fast neutrons released by fission so that they could cause
more fission.
Coolant: In BWR reactor, water is also used as coolant. The BWR allows bulk
boiling of the coolant water in the reactor. Two thirds of the pressure vessel is filled
withwater. In the figure above, water is circulated through the Reactor Core As the
water moves past the fuel assemblies, it picks up heat from them. Part of the water
evaporates.
Steam separators in the upper part of the reactor remove water droplets from the
steam. The Generator produces the electricity. The unused steam is exhausted to
the condenser where it is condensed into water. The resulting water is pumped out
of the condenser with a series of pumps, reheated, and pumped back to the reactor
vessel by the Feed water Pumps. This starts the cycle all over again..
Advantages of BWR (over PWR)
The reactor vessel and associated components operate at a substantially lower
pressure (about 75 atm) when compared to a PWR (about 153 atm)
Pressure vessel is subjected to significantly less neutron irradiation compared to a
PWR, and so does not become as brittle with age.
Operates at a lower nuclear fuel temperature.Less corrosion
BWR does not require steam generators and pressurizer vessel. So it has only
a.fewer components than PWR,
There are fewer pipes and tubes and lesser welded joints inside the BWR
compared to a PWR.
A BWR may be designed to operate using only natural circulation so that
recirculation pumps are eliminated entirely. (The new ESBWR design uses
natural circulation.)
Disadvantages of BWR
Complex calculations are required for managing consumption of nuclear fuel
during operation due to "two phase (water and steam) fluid flow" in the upper part
of the core.
Any fuel leak might make the water radioactive and that radioactivity would
Contaminate the turbine and the rest of the loop by short-lived radioactive
products..
Control rods have to be inserted from below by a dedicated high pressure
hydraulic system for current BWR designs. Most other reactor types use top entry
control rods that are held up in the withdrawn position by electromagnets, causing
them to fall very quickly into the reactor by gravity if power is lost.

FAST BREEDER REACTORS;

In a fast breeder reactor, the core consists of a fissionable fuel surrounded by some
fertile materials such as U238 and Th232. Fast neutrons are used to produce fission
in the fuel material and hence no moderator is used in the reactor. More fast
neutrons than that required for sustaining the controlled chain reaction are produced
but the excess neutrons are allowed to escape from the central core. When U238
captures one of the fast neutrons produced by the fission of Pu239, it gets converted
into Pu239 after the decay of two particles. decay decay
92U238 + 0n1 92U239 93Np239 +-1e0 94 Pu239 + -1e0
Similarly, fertile 90Th232 on capturing a fast neutron becomes 92U233 after the
decay of two particles. decay decay
90Th232 + 0n1 90 Th233 91Pa233 + -1e0 92 U233 + -1e0
(Pa Protactinium)
Construction and working of a fast breeder reactor
There are several designs of fast breeder reactors in use world wide. A POT type
FBTR is described below.
Design of Core : In a stainless steel reactor vessel the small and compact core of
the nuclear rector (1.22m high and 3.36m diameter) is arranged at the center. Oxide
of PU239 or U235 is used as fuel. Fuel pellets (discs) are stacked inside specially
made steel tube cladding which forms the fuel rod. The tubes have hexagonal
cross section. 127 such
fuel rods are arranged together to form a fuel assembly. Each such assembly has
several empty slots to introduce cadmium control rods or for the coolant flow.
Inside the core, about 240 such fuel assemblies are arranged resembling a
honeycomb structure. A Fuel assembly is surrounded by breeder blankets
containing the compounds of fertile
elements.
Breeder reactions for 92U238 and 90Th232
Suppose the breeder blanket has fertile 92U238. Fast fission neutrons are produced
during the fission of fuel element at the centre. some fast neutrons fly out of the
central core towards breeder blanket. The Fertile 238U nuclei in the breeding
blanket capture them. They are converted to fissile Pu239 after two beta-decays.
decay decay 92U238 + 0n1 92U239 93Np239 +-1e0 94 Pu239
+ -1e0 If 90Th232 is used as fertile breeding blanket, on capturing a fast neutron,
fertile Th232 gets converted to fissionable U233 after two beta-decays.
decay decay 90Th232 + 0n1 90 Th233 91Pa233 + -1e0 92
U233 + -1e0
Working
The reactor vessel is made of stainless steel. It houses the (core + breeder
blanket). Fuel at the centre is surrounded by breeder blankets. It is surrounded by a
thick neutron reflector shield made of either Beryllium or graphite. Boron or
Cadmium control rods are inserted from the top. They are adjusted to make the
reactor to work under critical conditions. Usually, no moderator is used to avoid
thermalisation of the fast fission neutrons. Liquid sodium metal is used as the
coolant in two separate closed loops. In the primary loop, liquid sodium is pumped
into the
stainless steel pressure tubes and passes through the core. After removing the heat
generated by fission in the core, it passes through the intermediate heat exchanger
HX1. The secondary liquid Na coolant flows through separate channels (coils)
within HX1. Heat is transferred from the primary coolant to the liquid sodium
coolant The hot, liquid sodium coolant flowing in the closed, secondary coolant
loop then
passes through another heat exchanger HX2. The feed water which is pumped at a
pressure of 25kg /cm2 and at a temperature of about 200C flows through separate
channels (coils) within HX2. It removes heat from hot secondary liquid sodium.
The hot water boils and produces steam at a temperature of 480C. This steam is
used to operate a turbine – power generator combination to convert thermal
energy into
electric power
Advantages:
1. More fuel can be produced than that is consumed
2. The fuel need not be enriched
DISADVANTAGES:
1.Metallic sodium reacts with water violently anf it burns in air. So extreme care
must be taken to avoid leakage of sodium and water coolants.
2. Liquid sodium is highly corrosive and hence corrodes the structural steel.
3. Swelling of steel tubes occur due to high temperature, heavy irradiation from
fast neutrons, gamma rays, etc. Also the tubes loose their mechanical strength and
become brittle
The requirements of moderator
A Moderator should have a high boiling point; It should have a very low absorption
cross section and very high scattering collision cross section for neutrons.
1. In a single collision maximum energy would be transferred if both colliding
particles have equal masses. Hence, this requires that moderators are made of light
elements whose atomic mass is close to that of neutrons.
2. In order to have maximum transfer of energy during collisions, the scattering
cross section of the moderating element for scattering collision with neutron should
be very high.
3. Also, elements of the moderators should not absorb neutrons. Therefore their
neutron absorption cross section should be very small or zero.
Among the lighter elements, Deuterium and oxygen have the lowest absorption
cross section for thermal neutrons. Also they have good collision cross section.
Hence D2O is used as coolant as well as moderator im PHWR (pressurized Heavy
Water Reactor) where the Uranium fuel need not be enriched
5. COOLANT
The heat generated in a nuclear reactor operating under a critical condition is
removed by the coolant. For efficient transfer of heat from the fuel rods to the
coolant, good contact between the cladded fuel and the coolant is necessary. Light
water (H2O) and Heavy water (D2O) are widely used as coolant in thermal
reactors. Liquid sodium and liquid sodium-potassium alloy are used as coolants in
fast breeder reactors. Gaseous air and Helium are used as coolants in gas-cooled
reactors.
The requirements of a coolant
The required properties of a coolant are: 1). High heat capacity, 2) High boiling
point,
3) very small neutron capture cross section, 4) non-corrosive to the fuel cladding,
5) high chemical stability and 6) easy to pump through the volume of the reactor.
FUEL CLADDING
The fuel element is enclosed in a cylindrical jacket called ‘cladding’. Usually,
nuclear fuel in the form of oxides or carbides is pressed into thin circular discs.
After stacking the
fuel pellets into the fuel cladding, the cladding is sealed. The fuel cladding prevents
the fuel elements from being corroded by the coolant. Also it prevents the fission
fragments and other radioactive products from escaping out into the coolant
section. The heat energy generated during fission is conducted by the walls of
cladding to the coolant that is circulating through the core. The required
characteristics of fuel cladding are
1. Ease of fabrication and weldability 2. Low neutron absorption cross 3. Good
tensile strength and good thermal conductivity 4. Resistance to corrosion
5. Resistance to irradiation damage which leads to the ‘swelling’ of the fuel rod
and 6. Low cost.
3. CONTROL RODS:
Control rods are made of materials which absorb neutrons more efficiently. They
maintain the reactor operations under critical conditions by absorbing the excess
neutrons. “Shut down rods” are control rods which are used to instantly shut
down the reactor operations during emergencies by dropping them suddenly into
the core. By this, most of the fission neutrons are absorbed by control rods and the
nuclear reactor goes sub critical (k<<1) and stops the fission reaction completely.
Requirements of a Control Element
The elements used for control rods should have low density, good mechanical
strength, high melting point, easy fabrication, corrosion resistance, reactor
compatibility and most importantly very large absorption cross section for
neutrons. Characteristics of some of the control elements used in nuclear reactors
are given above.: Boron and cadmium are widely used as materials for control
elements. Sometimes, to maintain the reactor control, boric acid is mixed with the
primary coolant.
Enrichment of 92U235:Natural uranium has 99.284% of U238 isotope, with U235
only constituting about 0.711% of its weight. U235 is the only naturally-occurring
nuclear fuel that is fissionable with thermal neutrons. Enriched uranium is a critical
component for both civil nuclear power generation and military nuclear weapons.
Although some nuclear reactors (which use heavy water both as moderator and
coolant) are designed to operate with natural uranium, most of the reactors use
enriched.
Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition
of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. The
different levels of enrichment are given below
Slightly enriched uranium (SEU)
Slightly enriched uranium (SEU) has a 235U concentration of 0.9% to 2%. This
new grade can be used to replace natural uranium (NU) fuel in some heavy water
reactors like the CANDU.
Low-enriched uranium (LEU) : IT has a lower than 20% concentration of 235U.
In commercial light water reactors (LWR), uranium enriched to 3 to 5% 235U are
used as fuel.
Highly enriched uranium (HEU
Highly enriched uranium (HEU) has a 20% or higher concentration of 235U. The
fissile uranium in nuclear weapon primaries usually contains 85% or more of 235U
known as weapon-grade.
METHODS:
1) gaseous diffusion (referred to as first generation) and
2) gas centrifuge (second generation)
Other methods include electromagnetic separation,, laser isotope separation etc.