Unit 5: Sustainable Source of Energy

Nuclear Plant
Introduction
A generating station in which nuclear energy is converted into electrical energy is known as a nuclear power station.

In a nuclear power station instead of a furnace there is a nuclear reactor in which heat is generated by splitting atoms or radioactive
material under suitable conditions. Heavy elements such as Uranium (U235) or Thorium (Th232) are subjected to nuclear fission (as
shown in Fig.1) in a special apparatus known as a reactor. The heat energy thus released is utilised in raising steam at high
temperature and pressure. The steam runs the steam turbine which converts steam energy into mechanical energy. The turbine drives
the alternator which converts mechanical energy into electrical energy.

Figure 1: Nuclear fission [source: https://nrl.mit.edu/reactor/fission-process]

Locations in India
Table 1. Location of nuclear power plants on India

Advantages

1. It reduces the demand for coal, oil and gas, the cost of which are tending to rise as the stocks become depleted.
2. The amount of fuel required is quite small. Therefore, there is a considerable saving in the cost of fuel transportation.
3. Besides producing large amounts of power, the nuclear power plant can produce valuable fissile material which is extracted
when the fuel has to be renewed.
4. The nuclear power station needs less area and volume compared to a conventional plant of equal capacity.
5. It has low running charges as a small amount of fuel is used for producing bulk electrical energy.
6. This type of plant is very economical for producing bulk electric power.

Disadvantages

1. The fuel used is expensive and is difficult to recover.

2. Nuclear power plants cannot used as base load plants. They are not suitable for variable load operation as the reactors
cannot be easily controlled to respond quickly to load changes. They are used at a load factor of not less than 80%.
3. The capital cost on a nuclear plant is very high as compared to other types of plants.
4. The erection and commissioning of the plant requires greater technical know-how.
5. The fission by-products are generally radioactive and may cause a dangerous amount of radioactive pollution.
6. The disposal of the by-products, which are radioactive, is a big problem. They have either to be disposed of in a deep trench
or in a sea away from sea-shore.

Selection of Site for Nuclear Power Station

The following points should be kept in view while selecting the site for a nuclear power station:
 1. Availability of water. As sufficient water is required for cooling purposes, therefore, the plant site should be located
where ample quantity of water is available, e.g., across a river or by sea-side.
2. Disposal of waste. The waste produced by fission in a nuclear power station is generally radioactive which must be
disposed-off properly to avoid health hazards. The waste should either be buried in a deep trench or disposed-off in
sea quite away from the sea shore. Therefore, the site selected for such a plant should have adequate arrangement for
the disposal of radioactive waste.
3. Distance from populated areas. The site selected for a nuclear power station should be quite away from the populated
areas as there is a danger of presence of radioactivity in the atmosphere near the plant. However, as a precautionary
measure, a dome is used in the plant which does not allow the radioactivity to spread by wind or underground
waterways.
4. Transportation facilities. The site selected for a nuclear power station should have adequate facilities in order to
transport the heavy equipment during erection and to facilitate the movement of the workers employed in the plant.
From the above mentioned factors it becomes apparent that ideal choice for a nuclear power station would be near sea
or river and away from thickly populated areas.

Schematic Arrangement of Nuclear Power Station

The schematic arrangement of nuclear power station is shown in Fig. 2. In a reactor, heat is produced by 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. The
reactor and heat exchanger are equivalent to the furnace and boiler in a conventional steam plant. When the uranium atoms split,
there is radiation as well so that the reactor and its cooling circuit must be heavily shielded against radiation hazard. The rest of the
plant is similar to the ordinary steam plant. The steam generated in the heat exchanger is admitted to the turbine and after work has
been done by the expansion or steam through the turbine, the steam is condensed into condensate in the condenser. The condensate
pump sends the condensate back to the heat exchanger, thus forming a closed-feed system. The other auxiliaries are similar to those
in a familiar steam station.

Figure 2: Schematic arrangement of nuclear power station

Therefore, the whole arrangement can be divided into the following main stages: (i) Nuclear reactor (ii) Heat exchanger (iii) Steam
turbine (iv) Alternator.

i. Nuclear reactor: It is an apparatus in which nuclear fuel (say U235) is subjected to nuclear fission. It controls the chain
reaction that starts once the fission is done. If the chain reaction is not controlled, the result will be an explosion due to the
fast increase in the energy released.
A nuclear reactor consists of following parts, as shown in Fig.3:
a. Reactor core: This contains a number of fuel rods made of fissile materials.
b. Moderator: This material in the reactor core is used to moderate or reduce the neuron speeds to value that increases
the probability of fission occurring.
c. Reflector: This surrounds the reactor core within the thermal shielding arrangement and helps to bounce escaping
neutrons back into the core. This conserves the nuclear fuel, as the low speed neutrons, thus returned are useful
in continuing the chain reaction.
d. Shielding: Shielding helps in giving protection from the deadly α and β particles radiations and γ-rays as well as
neutrons given off by the process of fission within the reactor.
e. Control of reactor: This is effected by inserting neutron absorbing materials to keep the chain reaction at a desired
level.
 f. Cooling system: This removes heat from the core produced by nuclear reaction, the heat being used to generate
steam in other apparatus. The types of coolants used are carbon dioxide, air, hydrogen, helium, water, sodium or
sodium potassium.

Figure 3: Basics components of a nuclear reactor [source: Elements of Electrical Power Station Design by M.
Deshpande]

ii. Heat exchanger: The coolant gives up heat to the heat exchanger which is utilised in raising the steam. After giving up
heat, the coolant is again fed to the reactor.
iii. Steam turbine. The steam produced in the heat exchanger is led to the steam turbine through a valve. After doing a useful
work in the turbine, the steam is exhausted to condenser. The condenser condenses the steam which is fed to the heat
exchanger through feed water pump.
iv. Alternator. The steam turbine drives the alternator which converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. The output
from the alternator is delivered to the bus-bars through transformer, circuit breakers and isolators.

TYPES OF POWER REACTOR

Reactors can be
i. Heterogeneous: A heterogeneous reactor has a large number of fuel rods with the coolant circulating around them and
carrying away the heat released by nuclear fission.
ii. Homogeneous: In a homogeneous reactor, the fuel and moderator are mixed, e.g. a fissionable salt of uranium like uranium
sulphate (or nitrate) dissolved in the moderator like H20 or D20 . The solution is critical in the core. Due to difficulties in
component maintenance, induced radioactivity, erosion and corrosion, homogeneous reactors are not common.

Present day nuclear reactors are of the heterogeneous class. These reactors are again classified as shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Reactor classification

o Thermal reactors: In thermal reactors, moderators are used to slow down the neutrons to a speed at which they
can react readily with U-235 and cause fission. In this, most of the neutrons have energies of about 0.03 eV.
o Fast reactors: In fast reactors, the neutron energies are very nearly at a level at which they emerge as fragments
from the fissile material during fission. Fast reactors which use high energy neutrons for fission and require no
moderator utilize a liquid metal as a coolant with either plutonium or a plutonium-uranium mixture for fuel. In
fast reactors, most of the neutrons have energies of above 1000 eV.

Light water cooled and moderated reactors using slightly enriched uranium fuel are the type most used for power production. These
reactors are further divided into:

1. Pressurized water reactor (PWR)

Figure 4 shows the principle of construction of this type of reactor. The fuel is enriched uranium, and water under pressure
is used as both moderator and coolant. This type of reactor is designed to prevent the boiling of the water coolant in the
uranium core. A pump circulates water at high pressure around the core so that the water in the liquid state absorbs heat
from the uranium and transfers it to the secondary loop. The boiler has a heat exchanger and a steam drum. A pressurized
tank tapped into the pipe loop maintains pressure in the water system.
 Figure 4: Pressurized water reactor [Source: Elements of Electrical Power Station Design by M. Deshpande]

2. Boiling water reactor (BWR)

Figure 5 shows the principle construction of this reactor. The fuel is enriched uranium, water is used as both the moderator
and coolant. The uranium elements are arranged in a particular lattice form inside a pressure vessel containing water. The
heat released by the nuclear reaction is absorbed by the water and the steam is generated inside the vessel itself. Feed water
enters the reactor tank below to pass through the fuel elements in the core as coolant and also as moderator. In the boiling
water reactor, the cooling system of the pressurized water reactor is eliminated.

Figure 5: Pressurized water reactor [Source: Elements of Electrical Power Station Design by M. Deshpande]