[Chapter 04: Nuclear Energy]

Seab Piseth | pisethseab@gmail.com | 011 70 48 25

Department of Industrial and Mechanical Engineering

Faculty of Electrical Engineering
Institute of Technology of Cambodia

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 Nuclear Factory

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 Nuclear Factory

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 Overview of Nuclear Energy Today
• Nuclear energy has grown continuously since its inception –
demonstrating increased performance and efficiency – and today is a
major source of energy, supplying about 17% of the world’s electricity.

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 Overview of Nuclear Energy Today

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 Overview of Nuclear Energy Today
The energy availability factor is the percentage of maximum energy
generation that a nuclear power plant is capable of supplying to the
electricity grid and is a measure of operational performance.

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 Basic Principles of Nuclear Energy

•Nuclear energy is a powerful source of energy,

generated during a nuclear reaction, by change in the
nucleus of an atom.
•A nuclear reactor is, in essence, simply a way of
producing heat to boil water, thereby creating steam
to drive turbine generators for electricity production.

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 Einstein's Theory

•The source of nuclear energy is the mass of the

nucleus and energy generated during a nuclear
reaction is due to conversion of mass into energy

E = energy
M= mass
C= speed of light (c = ~3×108 m/s)

​បរិមាណដ៏តិចតូច​របស់មា៉ាសរូបធាតុ​អាចបំលែង​ជាថាមពែយ៉ា ងធំ

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 What is protons, electron and neutron?

• Protons are positively

charged particles found
within atomic nuclei.
• While the protons have
positive charge, electrons
have the negative charge.
• Differs from electron and
proton, neutron is the no- • Nucleus is the central part
charge part in the atom. of an atom, usually make up
Meanwhile, neutron is of proton and neutron
neutral. (Nuclei-plural of nucleus)

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 What is protons, electron and neutron?

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Chapter 04: Nuclear Energy Page 11
 Or

Or

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 TWO WAYS TO OBTAIN NUCLEAR ENERGY:

Nuclear fission Nuclear fusion

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 NUCLEAR FISSION

▪ Nuclear fission is a process in nuclear

physics in which the nucleus of an atom
splits into two or more smaller nuclei as
fission products, and usually some by-
product particles.
▪ A huge amount of heat is generated in
this process, which is used in nuclear
power plants to generate electricity.

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 NUCLEAR FISSION

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBdVK4cqiFs
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 Energy content of various fuels

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 NUCLEAR FUSION
• Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic
nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic
nuclei and subatomic particles (neutrons or protons).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb8NX3HiS4U
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 Basic components of nuclear reactors

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 Component of nuclear reactor
▪The basic technology used to harness the energy of nuclear
fission is the nuclear reactor. Though there are many types
of nuclear reactors, all have several components in
common such as fuel, moderator, coolant and control rods
1. Fuel
- Uranium has two main isotopes: 235U and 238U. The
former, 235U, is the only fissile material found in nature,
i.e. it can easily fission when hit either by thermal or fast
neutrons.

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 Component of nuclear reactor
2. Moderator
• A moderator is necessary to slow the fast neutrons created
during fission down to the thermal energy range so as to
increase their efficiency in causing further fission.
3. Coolant
• A coolant is necessary to absorb and remove the heat
produced by nuclear fission and maintain the temperature
of the fuel within acceptable limits.
4. Control rods
• Control rods are made of materials that absorb neutrons,
for example, boron, silver, indium, cadmium and hafnium.

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 Types of Reactor
Ordinary water is used as both coolant and moderator. The coolant is
kept at high pressure(about 15.5 MPa or 2250 psi) to keep it liquid
during operation, retained within a pressure boundary comprised mainly
of the reactor pressure vessel and piping in the primary system.

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 Types of Reactor

In a BWR, ordinary water acts as both coolant and moderator. The

coolant is kept at a lower pressure than in a PWR (about 7 MPa or 1
000 psi) allowing the coolant to boil as it receives heat from the
reactor. The resultant steam is passed directly to the turbine generators
to produce electricity
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 Nuclear Safety
- The safety of a nuclear facility depends on the engineered protection
built into it and on the organization, training, procedures and attitudes
of the operators.
- Basic elements of nuclear
Safety:

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 ADVANTAGES

▪ Almost 0 emissions (very low greenhouse gas emissions).

▪ The plants almost never experience problems if not from
human error, which almost never happens anyway
because the plant only needs like 10 people to operate it.
▪ A small amount of matter creates a large amount of
energy.
▪ A lot of energy is generated from a single power plant.
▪ Modern reactors have two to ten times more efficiency
than the old generation reactors.

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 DISADVANTAGES

• Nuclear plants are more expensive to build and maintain.

• Waste products are dangerous and need to be carefully
stored for long periods of time.
• The spent fuel is highly radioactive and has to be carefully
stored for many years or decades after use. This adds to
the costs.
• There is presently no adequate safe long-term storage for
radioactive and chemical waste produced from early
reactors

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 DISADVANTAGES
• Nuclear power plants can be dangerous to its surroundings
and employees. It would cost a lot to clean in case of
spillages.
• There exist safety concerns if the plant is not operated
correctly or conditions arise that were unforeseen when
the plant was developed, as happened at the Fukushima
plant in Japan.
• Nuclear plants can render hundreds of square miles of
land uninhabitable and unsuitable for any use for years,
decades or longer, and kill off entire river systems .

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 The Economics of Nuclear Energy
• Nuclear energy is characterized by low production costs, high capital costs,
insensitivity to variations in fuel prices, long operational life and significant
regulatory costs.

• Costs, risks and liabilities

❑high capital investment costs;

❑long planning horizons and operational life;
❑low fuel, operating and maintenance (O&M) costs;
❑significant costs incurred after cessation of power
generation (notably management and disposal of
radioactive waste and decommissioning).

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 The Economics of Nuclear Energy

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 The Future of Nuclear Energy
• The future of nuclear energy depends on the interplay
between four factors – growth in energy demand, cost-
competitiveness with other fuel sources, environmental
considerations, and questions of public attitude and
perception.
• Depending on the satisfactory resolution of these factors
and on technical advances, many new and enlarged
applications of nuclear energy can be envisaged, including
hydrogen production, seawater desalination and expanded
production of isotopes for medical purposes.

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 The Future of Nuclear Energy
• Much research is under way to develop these potential
applications and to improve the performance of nuclear
energy systems.

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 Homework

1- Why at most development country cannot build nuclear power

plan.

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