NAME: PRATIKSHA BHUIYA

ENROLLMENT NO:16UEE041

SEC:B

SEMESTER:8 TH

SUBJECT:POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 12 APRIL , 2020

TH
 1. Various generations of the Nuclear Reactors

The various generations of nuclear reactor are :-

Generation I
Generation II
Generation III
Generation III+
Generation IV

The key attributes characterizing the development and deployment

of nuclear power reactors illuminate the essential differences
between the various generations of reactors. The present analysis of
existing reactor concepts focuses on six key reactor attributes:

Cost-effectiveness, safety, security and nonproliferation features,

Grid appropriateness, commercialization roadmap(including

constructability and licensability), and management of the fuel cycle.

Three generations of nuclear power systems, derived from designs

originally developed for naval use beginning in the late 1940s, are
operating worldwide today.

 Generation 1: Gen I refers to the prototype and power reactors

that launched civil nuclear power. This generation consists of
early prototype reactors from the 1950s and 1960s, such as
Shippingport (1957–1982) in Pennsylvania, Dresden-1 (1960–
1978) in Illinois, and Calder Hall-1 (1956–2003) in the United
Kingdom. This kind of reactor typically ran at power levels that
were “proof-of-concept.”
 Generation II : Gen II refers to a class of commercial reactors
designed to be economical and reliable. Designed for a typical
operational lifetime of 40 years,2 prototypical Gen II reactors
include pressurized water reactors (PWR), Canada Deuterium
Uranium reactors (CANDU), boiling water reactors (BWR),
advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGR), and Vodo-Vodyanoi
 Energetichesky Reactors (VVER). Gen II systems began operation
in the late 1960s and comprise the bulk of the world’s 400+
commercial PWRs and BWRs. These reactors, typically referred to
as light water reactors (LWRs), use traditional active safety
features involving electrical or mechanical operations that are
initiated automatically and, in many cases, can be initiated by the
operators of the nuclear reactors. China’s existing and planned
civilian power fleet is based on the PWR. Two important designs
used in China are the improved Chinese PWR 1000 (the CPR-
1000), which is based on Framatome’s 900 megawatt (MW) three-
loop Gen II design, and the standard PWR 600 MW and 1,000 MW
designs (the CNP series).
 Generation III: Gen III nuclear reactors are essentially Gen II
reactors with evolutionary, state-of-the-art design improvements.
These improvements are in the areas of fuel technology, thermal
efficiency, modularized construction, safety systems (especially
the use of passive rather than active systems), and standardized
design. Improvements in Gen III reactor technology have aimed
at a longer operational life, typically 60 years of operation,
potentially to greatly exceed 60 years, prior to complete overhaul
and reactor pressure vessel replacement. Confirmatory research
to investigate nuclear plant aging beyond 60 years is needed to
allow these reactors to operate over such extended lifetimes. The
Westinghouse 600 MW advanced PWR (AP-600) was one of the
first Gen III reactor designs. On a parallel track, GE Nuclear
Energy designed the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR)
and obtained a design certification from the NRC. Only four Gen
III reactors, all ABWRs, are in operation today. No Gen III plants
are in service in the United States
 Generation III+:-Gen III+ reactor designs are an evolutionary
development of Gen III reactors, offering significant
improvements in safety over Gen III reactor designs certified by
the NRC in the 1990s. In the United States, Gen III+ designs
must be certified by the NRC pursuant to 10 CFR Part 52.
 Examples of Gen III+ designs include:

• VVER-1200/392M Reactor of the AES-2006 type

• Advanced CANDU Reactor (ACR-1000)
• AP1000: based on the AP600, with increased power output
• European Pressurized Reactor (EPR): evolutionary descendant of the Framatome
N4 and Siemens Power Generation Division KONVOI reactors
• Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR):based on the ABWR, and
many more.
Manufacturers began development of Gen III+ systems in the 1990s.
Perhaps the most significant improvement of Gen III+ systems over
second-generation designs is the incorporation in some designs of
passive safety features that do not require active controls or operator
intervention but instead rely on gravity or natural convection to
mitigate the impact of abnormal events.
 Generation IV: Conceptually, Gen IV reactors have all of the features
of Gen III+ units, as well as the ability, when operating at high
temperature, to support economical hydrogen production, thermal
energy off-taking, and perhaps even water desalination. In addition,
these designs include advanced actinide management.

Gen IV reactors include:

• High temperature water-, gas-, and liquid salt–based pebble bed

thermal and epithermal reactors.
• Liquid metal–cooled reactors and other reactors with more-advanced
cooling.
• Traveling wave reactors that convert fertile material into fissile fuel
as they operate, using the process of nuclear transmutation being
developed by TerraPower
• Hyperion Power Module (25 MW module). According to Hyperion,
uranium nitride fuel would be beneficial to th physical characteristics
and neutronics of the standard ceramic uranium oxide fuel in LWRs.
Gen IV reactors are two-to-four decades away, although some designs
could be available within a decade.
.
 Table 1. Characteristics and Operating Parameters of EightGeneration IV
Reactor Systems under Development

.
 2.Payback period of solar power plant
 With the rapid decline in solar panel prices,on-grid solar power
systems have become commercially attractive.
 At the same time, solar plants need high initial investment.
Therefore, understanding soundness of investment becomes crucial
 Payback period, Return on Investment (RoI) and NPV are the most
commonly used metrics to gauge soundness of an investment.

 What is Payback Period?

 Payback period is the amount of time taken to recover the
initial cost of an investment.
 Investments with shorter paybacks are more attractive.
 It is also useful to compare choices and arrive at informed
decisions. Choices could be:
1. Payback period of solar investment vs investment in
energy saving equipment
2.Payback period with different type of panels. .
3.Payback period with different designs etc.

 How to Calculate Payback Period on Solar Investment?

Payback Period on Solar System= Net Initial Cost (INR)/ Net

Annual Benefit (INR)

Net Initial Cost

Net Initial Cost= (Initial Cost- Initial Benefits)
1. Initial Cost of the solar plant. It includes the cost of
• Solar panels
• Structures
• Solar Inverter
• Balance of System (Cables, boxes, earthing system etc.)
• Engineering, transport, and installation
2. Initial Benefits from the govt.
 • Subsidies for residential consumers/Savings from accelerated
depreciation for industrial consumers

Net Annual Benefit

Net Annual Benefit = (Annual Benefits – Annual Costs)

1. Annual Benefits
 For residential consumers, there are no annual benefits from
governments.
 For businesses (Industries/commercial entities), annual benefits
from solar plants come in two parts. They are: o Savings in
electricity bill o Tax savings due to accelerated depreciation.
Savings in electricity bill can be calculated by multiplying generation
from the solar plant with electricity tariff.

2. Annual Costs
These include Operation & Maintenance costs such as
 cleaning of panels
 Health checks by professionals to avoid failures (for large plants)
 Spares maintenance (preferred for large plants)
O&M costs are considered as 1% of the initial cost for large systems and
2% for small systems.
Using the net initial cost and net annual benefits, the payback period
can be calculated.
 3. Site selection parameters for Nuclear Power Plant

An important stage in the development of a nuclear power project is the

selection of a suitable site to establish the siterelated design inputs for
Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). The selection of suitable site is the result of a
process in which the costs are minimized. It is also to ensure adequate
protection of site personnel, the public and the environment from the
impacts of the construction and operation of NPP.

Generally, a site is considered acceptable from the safety point of view

if:

a) It cannot be affected by phenomena against which protection through

the design is impracticable;
b) The probability of occurrence and the severity of destructive phenomena
against which the plant can be protected (at reasonable additional cost)
are not too high; and
c) The site characteristics (population distribution, meteorology,
hydrology, etc) are such that the consequences of potential accident would
be at acceptable limits.
For a nuclear power plant, site evaluation typically involves the following
stages:

Selection stage: One or more preferred candidate sites are selected after
investigation of a large region, rejection of unsuitable sites, and screening
and comparison of the remaining sites.
Characterization stage: This stage is further subdivided into:
• Verification, in which the suitability of the site to host a nuclear power
plant is verified mainly according to predefined site exclusion criteria;
• Confirmation, in which the characteristics of the site necessary for the
purposes of analysis and detailed design are determined via Programme
and can be significantly affected by cost and public acceptance.
Pre-operational stage: Studies and investigations from the previous
stages are continued to refine the assessment of site characteristics. Data
obtained from site allow a final assessment of simulation models used in
the ultimate design of foundation and superstructure as well.
 Operational stage: Selected investigations are pursued over the lifetime
of the plant, to ensure that the variation of engineering properties is not
varying significantly during the operating life of the plant.
Hence, the main factors affecting the construction of nuclear power plant
are-

 Geology and seismology.

A detailed geologic and geo-technical investigation of the site is important

in identifying a solid and stable foundation for the NPP facility. Sites with
competent bedrock, stable rock or solid soils are generally favoured as the
best building foundation conditions. Geologic conditions, such as areas of
active (and dormant) volcanic activity, earthquake areas and unstable
slopes, and related man-made conditions such as mined areas, should be
avoided. Areas with a minimal likelihood of surface or near-surface
deformation or faults are preferred as acceptable criteria.
 Atmospheric extremes and dispersion.

Atmospheric dispersion is normally not critical in determining the

suitability of a site because it usually does not represent a severe effect on
the structure, systems and components, all of which can be designed to
withstand most extreme atmospheric conditions. However, the
atmospheric characteristics at a site are important in the evaluation of
the dispersion of radioactive effluents from both postulated accidents and
routine releases of gaseous emission according to local regulatory
requirements for the dispersion of airborne radioactive material (AERB
2008, USNRC 1998). Topographical features, such as mountain ranges,
valleys, buildings and ocean shorelines can affect the local atmospheric
behaviour and may cause the dispersion characteristics at the site to be
less favourable.

 Safety zone: exclusion area and low population zone.

An exclusion area must be designated by the applicant in regard to the

area surrounding the NPP facility. The applicant must have the authority
to determine all activities within that area. The requirements in the
safety zones depend on the local regulatory body with reference to the
safety and security assessments in the vicinity. India has four safety
zones, with permanent settlement restricted in the NPP zone to within 2.4
km. A maximum of 10 000 and 20 000 people are allowed within 5 km and
10 km of the NPP site, respectively, while a maximum population of
100 000 is allowed in the area 10–30 km from the NPP site.

 Population consideration.

NPP sites should be located away from densely populated centres. If a

potential site is located away from a densely populated centre but not
necessarily in an area of low density, the site may be acceptable after
giving consideration to safety and environmental factors. The population
limitation helps to facilitate emergency planning and preparedness, as
well as reducing unnecessary doses and potential damage in the event of
severe accidents.
 Emergency planning.

An emergency plan and an emergency zone are established to protect the

NPP facility, the public and the environment during an emergency. The
determination of the exact size and configuration of the emergency
planning zone is dependent on demography, topography, land
characteristics, access routes, jurisdictional boundaries, and the local
emergency response capabilities. Hence, an assessment of the site and
that of its vicinity, including the population distribution and
transportation routes, should be conducted to plan protective action for
the public in the event of an emergency.

 Hydrology:
An adequate water source is one of the most important criteria as it needs
to provide a water supply to the NPP facility for its entire lifetime. The
water supply system must be highly dependable in normal condition or
postulated occurrences of natural and site related accidental phenomena,
or combinations of such phenomena. The water quality effect is also
considered in order to avoid contamination to the environment through
water supply/release.