Energy Science & Engg.

(KOE-033)
Unit-2
Nuclear Energy
Syllabus
Fundamental forces in the universe
The four fundamental forces of nature are gravitational force,
weak nuclear forces, electromagnetic force and strong nuclear
force. The weak and strong forces are effective only over a
very short range and dominate only at the level of sub atomic
particles. Gravity and electromagnetic forces have infinite
range.
Gravitational Force:- weakest force but infinite range
Weak Nuclear Force:- Next weakest force but short range
Electromagnetic Force:- Stronger with infinite range
Strong Nuclear Force:- Stronger but short range
 Gravitational Force:- The Gravitational force is weak, but very
long range. Furthermore, it is always attractive. It acts
between any two piece of matter in the universe, since mass
is its source.

Weak Nuclear Force:- The weak force is responsible for radio

active decay. It has a very short range. As its name indicates,
it is very weak. The weak force causes beta decay i.e.
conversion of a neutron into proton, an electron and an anti
neutron.

Electromagnetic Force:- The electromagnetic force causes

electric and magnetic effect such as the repulsion between
the like electrical charges or the interaction of bar magnet. It
is long ranged but much weaker than the strong force. It can
be attractive or repulsive and act only between piece of
matter carrying electrical charges. Electricity, magnetism and
Strong Nuclear forces:- The strong interaction is very strong
but very short ranged. It is responsible for holding nuclei of
atoms together. It is basically attractive, but can be
effectively repulsive in some circumstances. The strong force
is carried by particles gluons, that is, when two particles
interact through the strong force, they do so by exchanging
gluons. Thus, the quarks inside the protons and neutrons are
bound together by exchange of the strong nuclear force.
Structure of the Atom
• All matter is composed of unit particles called atoms. An
atom consist of a relatively heavy, positively charged nucleus
and a number of much lighter negatively charged, electron
orbiting around nucleus.
• The nucleus consist of protons and neutrons which together
are called nucleons. Protons are positively charged, while the
neutrons are electrically neutral.
• The electric charged on the proton is equal in magnitude but
opposite in sign to that on electron. The atom as a whole is
electrically neutral, since the number of protons is equal to
the number of electrons in orbit.
Mass Defect and Binding Energy
Nucleus comprises of several positively charged protons
clubbed together in a very small volume. Because of identical
nature of their electrical charge, strong electrostatic repulsive
force is executed between them.
The magnitude of such force increase with increase in
number of protons in the nucleus. Existence of nucleus
despite such opposing force indicates towards the presence
of a short range force which is able to overcome the
electrostatic repulsion and bind the nucleus together.
The energy associated with this particular force is called the
binding energy. Alternatively, it can be viewed as the amount
of energy require to break a nucleus into its constituents.
Mass Defect
• The sum of the masses of the protons and neutrons that
comprises the nucleus exceeds the mass of the atomic
nucleus. This difference of mass is called the mass defect.
• The mass defect is found by adding up all the individual
particle weight and subtracting the actual mass of atom

• Where n refers to the number and m the mass of particle.

The mass defect is converted to energy in a nuclear reaction
as given by Einstein’s low:
• The energy associated with the mass defect is known as the
binding energy of the nucleus. It act as a glue which binds
the proton and neutrons together in the nucleus.

• 1 amu of mass = 931 MeV

• Therefore, if 1 amu of mass could be completely converted to
energy, 931 MeV would be yield
Example,

This is the energy released when two proton and two neutron
are bound together. If we were to change the helium nucleus
back into its constituents, we would have to give back this
28.2 MeV to the nucleus. The binding energy per nucleon is
then
BE/nucleon=28.2/4=7.05 MeV
• The binding energy curve shows that mast stable elements (
like iron, cobalt, nickel, etc.) are in the intermediate mass
number range. If element of low mass no are fused together,
it would lead to more stable elements.
• The element of higher mass number are less stable and if
they are fissioned, they would form element of less mass
number, which are more stable. Thus light isotopes hydrogen,
deuterium & so on are good for fusion reaction, while the
heavier isotopes like uranium are suitable for fission reaction.
• It was found that nuclei of the even – even type, ie, having
an even numbers of protons and even number of neutrons
are very stable. Therefore, a Uranium-238 atom having 92
protons & 146 neutrons is quite stable and require very high
energy neutrons for fission, whereas U-235 atom
having 92 protons & 143 neutrons can be fissioned even by
low energy neutrons
Prob. Calculate the binding energy per nucleon in C(6,12).
Given that mass of hydrogen, mH =1.007825 u
Mass of neutron, mn =1.008665 u
Mass of carbon C(6,12) atom, m= 12.00000 u
And 1 u = 931 MeV
Sol.
Δm=[Zmp + (A-Z)mn –Mnucleus]
Nuclear Reaction
When a beam of mono energetic projectile particles gets
bombarded upon the target nucleus, the following three
processes may result singly or jointly.
1. Elastic scattering: If the incident and outgoing particles are
the same and the kinetic energy is conserved, the process
is said to be elastic scattering. In this process the incident
particle and the target nucleus are simply scattered due to
their mutual interaction without any change in their total
kinetic energy.
If the incident particle is denoted by ‘a’ and the target
nucleus by X,
the elastic scattering process can be expressed as
a+X X+a
 2. Inelastic Scattering:
• If the incident and the outgoing particles are the same but
the kinetic energy is not conserved during the process, then
the process is said to be inelastic scattering.
• In this process the internal structure of the target nucleus
remains unchanged but the nucleus is raise to an excited
state absorbing some energy of the incident particle, so the
outgoing particle has the kinetic energy less than that of
incident particle.
• The process of inelastic scattering may be expressed as:
a + X X* + a
where X* indicates that the target nucleus X is left in the
excited
state
In particular
3. Nuclear Reaction
If the incident and the outgoing particles are different and also
the nucleon structure of the target nucleus changes during
the bombardment, the process is said to be nuclear reaction.
In general a nuclear reaction may be expressed as:
a + X Y + b
Where ‘a’ is energetic incident particle, X is target nucleus, Y is
residual nucleus and ‘b’ is outgoing particle.
In particular,
In compact form the nuclear reaction may be expressed as X(a,
b)Y.
Thus a nuclear reaction is a process in which the incident
particle changes the internal structure of target nucleus and
itself is changed into other particle.
Conservation laws in Nuclear Reaction
There are number of entities which remain conserved in
nuclear reactions:
1. Charge: The total electric charged is conserved in all nuclear
reactions. This means that the sum of atomic number of X
and a is equal to the sum of atomic numbers of Y and b
Za + Z X = Z b + Z Y
in brief, Σ Z= constant
For example in nuclear reaction

Σ Z=2+5=7 Σ Z=6+1=7
2. Mass Number: The total number of nucleons taking part in
every nuclear reaction remains unchanged. This means that
the sum of nucleon number of X and a is equal to the sum
of nucleon number of Y and b, i.e.
A a + AX = A b + AY
in brief, Σ A= constant
3. Linear Momentum: If the target nucleus is initially at rest,
the vector sum of linear momenta of reaction products will
be equal to the linear momentum of the incident particle.
In centre of mass coordinate system the total linear
momentum is zero at all time. Analytically,
P a + P X = PY + P b
4. Mass-Energy: In nuclear reaction neither kinetic energy nor
rest mass is conserved separately. But the total mass energy
is always conserved. The kinetic energy Q liberated in any
reaction is always equal to the reduction of the total rest-
mass of all the constituents of the reaction, the mass
energy equivalent relation is
E=mc2
For example,
5 B 10
(α,p) 6 C 13

The Q-value of reaction is

M (B10)+M(α)=M(p)+M(C13)+Q
Where all masses are rest masses for the corresponding neutral
atom.
Some famous Early Nuclear Reaction
1. The first artificial nuclear reaction (Discovery of proton). The
first artificial nuclear reaction was performed by Rutherford
in 1919 by bombarding 7.8 MeV α-particle (2He4) on nitrogen
gas. He found that more energetic light particles were
produced. These particles were named as proton. The
reaction may be expressed as
2(2He4) + 7N14 8 O 17
+ 1 P 1
(proton)
The α-particles fuses with 7N1 4 nucleus and breaking up
into 8O17 and a proton. This was the first time when an
element was converted into another
2. The first Nuclear Reaction Produced with an Accelerator: In
1932 J.D. Cockcroft and ETS Walton invented an accelerator
which produced potential upto 500 kV. It can accelerate
proton up to 0.5 MeV, when these protons were hit on
target nucleus, 3Li7, two α-particles were produced. The
reaction is

1 P 1
+ 3 Li 7
2 He 4
+ 2 He 4

Each α-particle had a kinetic energy of 8.9 MeV. It is

remarkable by an input energy of only 0.5 MeV; an input
energy of 17.8 MeV was achieved. This is the example of
reaction in which energy is released.
Cont…
3. The first Nuclear Reaction to produce New Radioactive
Nuclei: In 1934 Frideric and Irene Joliot Curie produced first
new radioactive nuclei by bombarding α-particle on
Aluminium target.
2 He + 13Al 15P + 0n
4 27 30

The product 15P30 is radioactive and decays into 14Si30 by

emitting positron (β+) with a half life of 2.6 minutes
15 P 30
14 Si 30
+ β +
+ν
Q-Value
The Q- value of a reaction is the change in total kinetic energy of
system or the change in total rest mass energy of system. As rest
mass is an invariant in relativistic mechanics, therefore Q value is
same in laboratory and centre of mass reference system. If we
consider the general nuclear reaction X (a , b) Y , the total initial
energy in the reaction is
Ei = Ka + Ma C2 + KX + MX C2 --------------------- (1)
Where Ka and KX are the kinetic energy of particle a and X
respectively. The total potential energy is zero as particles are
assumed far apart, Ma and Mx are rest mass of a and X respectively.
The final energy of reaction is
Ef = Kb + Mb C2 + KY + MY C2 ----------------------(2)
According to law of conservation of energy, Ei=Ef
The difference between the initial and final rest mass energies is
Cont…
Q=[(Ma + MX)-(Mb + MY)]C2 ---------- (3)
From equation (1) and (2)
Q= (Kb +Ky) – (Ka +KX) -----------(4)
Equ (3) may also be expressed as
(Ma + MX) C2=(Mb + MY)C2 + Q -------------(5)

If Q is positive (Q>0), the reaction is exoergic and the

energy liberated appears in the form of kinetic energies of
reaction products; but if Q<0, the reaction is endoergic i.e. it
can occur only if required energy is supplied by the kinetic
energy of projectile.
Threshold Energy
The minimum kinetic energy required by an incident
particle to bring about necessarily an endoergic
reaction is called the threshold energy (Eth) for the
nuclear reaction.

Eth = -Q(Ma + Mx)/Mx

1. The Q-value of Na23 (n,α) F20 reaction is -5.4 MeV.
Determine the threshold energy of the neutrons for this
reaction. Given
mass of neutron = 1.008665 u
mass of Na = 22.9898 u
Sol. Q = - 5.4 MeV
Ma = Mn= 1.008665 u
Mx = Mna =22.9898 u
Eth = -Q(Ma + Mx)/Mx
Substitute Values, we get
Eth = 5.635 Mev
Radioactive Decay and Half Life
• Most isotopes that occur in nature are stable. Some
isotopes of heavy elements like thalium (Z=81), lead
(Z=82) and bismuth (Z=83) and all isotopes of heavier
elements starting with polonium (Z=84) are not stable
(the binding energy per nucleon being small) and emit
radiation till a more stable nucleus is reached.
• Thus, a spontaneous disintegration process, called
radioactive decay, occurs. The resulting nucleus is called
daughter and the original nucleus is called the parent.
• The daughter product may be stable or radioactive. A
few lower mass isotopes are also naturally radioactive
such as K40, Rb87 and In115.
• radioactive isotopes both natural and man-made, are
commonly called radioisotopes. An example of radio
activity is 49In115 50 Sn
115
+ -1e0
Cont….
• Where 49In115 is a naturally occurring radioisotope and its
daughter, 50Sn115 is stable. Radioactivity is always accompanied
by a decrease of mass or liberation of energy. The energy thus
liberated shows up in the form of Kinetic energy of the emitted
particles and as electromagnetic radiation (γ-rays).
• Those elements which exhibits this activity are called
radioactive element, Eg. Uranium, Radon, Ionium, Thorium etc.
• Naturally occurring radioisotopes emits
• α-particles
• β-particles
• γ- radiations
1. Alpha (α) Decay: The α-particles are helium nuclei (2He4),
commonly emitted by heavier radioactive nuclei and accompanied
by γ-radiation,eg.

94 Pu 239
α 92 U 235
+ 2 He 4

2. Beta (β) Decay: It is equivalent to the emission of an electron and

raises the atomic number by one, while the mass number
remains same. It is usually accompanied by the emission of
neutrino (υ) and γ-radiation
82
214
Pb β 83
214
Bi + 0
-1 e + v

The penetration power of β-particles is small compared to γ-rays but

is larger than that of α-particle
3. Gamma Radiation or Photon:
• This is an electromagnetic
radiation of extremely short
wavelength and very high
frequency (E=hυ) , γ-rays
originates from the atom.
• By emitting Gamma Radiation
• Positron Decay: when radioactive
nucleus contains an access of
protons, positron (β+) decay occurs.
Converting a proton into neutron in
the process
7 N 13
6 C 13
+ 1 e 0

an excited daughter nucleus 30 30 0

falls back into its stable 15 P 14 Si + 1 e
ground (lowest) energy state. In positron decays, the daughter
nucleus has one less proton than the
[ Z X A ]* Z X A
+γ parent nucleus. Therefore, to maintain
electric charge neutrality of the atom,
one orbital electron has to be released.
This orbital electron then combines
with the emitted positron so that
producing γ-energy to one sum of
their rest
0
masses.
0
-1 e + 1 e γ
Radioactive Decay
• It has been observed that the emission of the particles in one form
of α, β, γ radiation is not an instantaneous process, for various
elements a decay time is different which follows certain law:
• The law states: The rate of decay is a function only of the number of
radioactive nuclei present at a time provided that the number is
large. It does not depend on temperature, pressure or the physical
and chemical states of matter i.e. whether it is in solid, liquid or
gaseous phase or in chemical combination with other atom.
• If N be the number of radioactive nuclei of an species at any time t,
the rate of decay
dN/dt = -λN
• Where λ is the proportionality constant or the radioactive decay
constant of the material. Negative sign represent that during
disintegration the number of nuclei is decreasing.
• Now integrating the above equation
Half Life
• Half life represent the rate of decay of one radioactive isotopes.
The half life is the time required for half of the parent nuclei to
decay or to disintegrate.
N=N0 /2 & t = t1/2
Nuclear Fusion
• The phenomenon of combination of two or more light nuclei to
form a heavy nucleus with enormous amount of energy is called
nuclear fusion.
• It is obvious from the binding energy curve that for lighter nuclei the
average binding energy increases with the increase of mass number
i.e., the sum of the masses of the individual light nuclei is greater
than the mass of the nucleus formed by their fusion and during the
process of fusion the difference in mass will be converted into
energy.
• The fusion process can take place if the interacting nuclei have
kinetic energy of about 0.1 MeV or more. These energies can be
achieved in an accelerator, but their use is limited to small number
of nuclei.
• To achieve fusion in large scale, the kinetic energy of interacting
nuclei must be due to their thermal motion; which means 7
that their
temperature must be extremely high of the order of 10 K Such a
high temperature is available at sun and star and on earth that may
be achieved by exploding a fission bomb.
Cont…
• Nuclear fusion at very high temperature is called the thermo-
nuclear reaction and the energy liberated is called thermo-nuclear
energy.
• As an example of nuclear fusion we may consider the fusion of two
deuterons to form a triton according to following reaction.

• The triton so formed can further combined with a third deuteron to

form an α-particle ( He nucleus).

• The net result is

Nuclear Fission
• The phenomenon of splitting of a heavy nucleus into lighter
fragment is called the nuclear fission.
• In the process of nuclear fission enormous amount of energy is
released because product nuclei have mass smaller than the
parent nuclei. The difference of mass appears in the form of
energy which is much more than that given off by any chemical
reaction. The general fission reaction initiated by slow
neutrons is

• Where X and Y are fission fragment of intermediate mass and

υn is average number of neutrons released in each process
Cont…
• For example if we consider the following reaction

• The stable isotope of Barium with maximum A is Ba138 and stable

isotope of Krypton with maximum A is Kr86 . To get rid of excess
neutrons these fission fragments must exhibit much beta
activity. Experimentally this is confirm by the following beta
decay observations.
Energy Released in Fission
• The energy released in nuclear fission is enormously large as
compare to any conventional chemical reaction. In every fission
of U235 about 200 MeV energy is produced as kinetic energy.
• Estimation of energy from mass of fission fragments: To
estimate the energy we consider the following fission reaction

The kinetic energy is given by

Q=(MU + Mn)C2 –(MX + MY +νMn)C2
where MU is mass of Uranium, Mn is mass of neutron, MX and
MY mass of Fissioned products and ν is number of neutron
produced.
Nuclear Chain Reaction
• We have seen that the fission reaction induced by neutron in
various fissionable material have the following characteristics:
I. Fissionable nuclei break up into two fragments X and Y ( eg Ba141 Kr92
)
II. Release of large amount of energy nearly 200 MeV per fission.
III. Production of second generation of neutron (i.e. secondary
neutrons) in excess of those consumed in the process.

• The chain reaction is that process in which the number of neutrons

keep on multiplying rapidly during fission till whole of the fissionable
material is disintegrated.
• The chain reaction will become self sustaining or self propagating only
if, for every neutron absorbed, at least one fission neutron becomes
available for causing fission of another nucleus.
• This condition can be expressed in the form of multiplication factor or
reproduction factor (K) of the system which may be defined as
•
Chain reaction of Fission U-235
Nuclear Reactor Power plant
• The main component of nuclear power plant are:
• Nuclear Reactor
• Heat Exchanger
• Steam Turbine
• Condenser
• Electric Generator
In the nuclear power plant the reactor performs the same function as
that of the furnace of steam power plant (produces heat). The heat
liberated in the reactor as a result of the nuclear fission of the fuel is
taken up by the coolant circulating through the reactor core.
Hot Coolant leaves the reactor at the top and then flows through the
tube of the steam generator and passes on its heat to the feed water, the
steam so produced expand in the steam turbine producing work and
thereafter is condensed in condenser. The steam turbine in turn runs an
electric generator thereafter producing electrical energy.
Essential Component of Nuclear Reactor
1. Reactor Core 2. Control Rods 3. Coolant 4. Moderator 5.
Shielding
A boiling water nuclear power plant
Reactor core
• The reactor core is that part of the nuclear power plant where
fission chain reaction is made to occur and where fission
energy is liberated in the form of heat for operating power
conversion equipment.
• The core of the reactor consist of an assemblage of fuel
elements, control rods, coolant and moderator.
• Reactor core generally have a shape approximately to a right
circular cylinder with diameter ranging from 0.5 to 15 m.
• The pressure vessel which houses the reactor core is also
considered a part of the core. The fuel elements are made of
plates or rod of uranium metal.
Control Rods
• These are made with neutron-
absorbing material such as cadmium,
hafnium or boron, and are inserted or
withdrawn from the core to control
the rate of reaction, or to halt it.*
• In some PWR reactors, special control
rods are used to enable the core to
sustain a low level of power efficiently.
(Secondary control systems involve
other neutron absorbers, usually
boron in the coolant – its
concentration can be adjusted over
time as the fuel burns up.)
• PWR control rods are inserted from
the top, BWR cruciform blades from
the bottom of the core.
• Coolant:
• The heat produced in the reactor is absorbed by and this heat is used for
combustion of water into steam in heat exchanger (steam generator) and
this heat is used for power generation.
• Commonly used coolant are air,CO2, heavy water and liquid Sodium.
• Moderator:
• A moderator is a suitable material which is used to slow down the fast
neutrons produced in fission. It is important to reduce the energies of
neutrons to thermal value =0.025 eV, the moderator must reduce the
kinetic energy of neutrons but not absorb them.
• It is desirable that the neutron colliding with the nuclei of moderator must
loose the maximum possible kinetic energy, so that quick thermalisation of
neutron takes place to reduce the probability of their capture.
• From mechanics it is known that the transfer of kinetic energy is maximum
when the colliding particles have equal masses . Therefore for the best
moderator we must choose an element of low atomic weight (A).
 • The first element in order of increasing atomic weight are Hydrogen,
Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron and Carbon.
• Out of these there are no suitable solid or liquid compound of Helium
and Lithium. Hydrogen has fairly large absorption cross-section for
slow neutrons.
• Boron has too large absorption cross-section for slow neutrons that it
is used as an absorber of neutrons in reactor, hence can not be used
as a moderator.
• Heavy Water (D2O) and Carbon (graphite) are the best choice as
moderator.

• Shielding: Shielding is necessary in order to

a) Protect the walls of the reactor vessels from radiation damage.
b) Protect operating personnel from exposure to radiation.
Types of Reactor
• Reactor can be heterogeneous or homogeneous. A
heterogeneous reactor has a large number of fuel rods with
the coolant circulating around them and carrying the heat
release by nuclear fission.
• In homogeneous reactor, the fuel and moderator are mixed, e.
g. a fissionable salt of Uranium like Uranium sulphate (or
nitrate) dissolve in moderator like H2O or D2O. The solution is
critical in core.
• Due to difficulties in component maintenance, erosion and
corrosion homogeneous reactor are not common.
• Present day nuclear reactor are of the heterogeneous class.
These reactors are again classified according to the type of fuel
used; the neutron flux spectrum, the coolant and the
moderator.
Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)
• The pressurized water reactor belongs to the light water type:
the moderator and coolant are both light water (H2O). It can be
seen in the figure that the cooling water circulates in two loops,
which are fully separated from one another.
• The primary circuit water (dark blue) is continuously kept at a
very high pressure and therefore it does not boil even at the
high operating temperature. (Hence the name of the type.)
Constant pressure is ensured with the aid of the pressurizer
(expansion tank).
• The primary circuit water transfers its heat to the secondary
circuit water in the small tubes of the steam generator; it cools
down and returns to the reactor vessel at a lower temperature.
• Since the secondary circuit pressure is much lower than that of
the primary circuit, the secondary circuit water in the steam
generator starts to boil (red). The steam goes from here to the
turbine, which has high and low pressure stages. When steam
leaves the turbine, it becomes liquid again in the condenser,
from where it is pumped back to the steam generator after pre-
heating.
• The coolant picks up heat in the reactor and transfer it to the
working fluid in the steam generator. The steam is then used in
Rankine type cycle to produce electricity.
• The fuel in PWR is slightly enriched Uranium in the form of thin
rods or plates
Boiling Water Reactor (BWR)
• In a boiling water reactor, light water (H2O) plays the role of
moderator and coolant, as well. Part of the water boils away in the
reactor pressure vessel, thus a mixture of water and steam leaves
the reactor core.
• Thus generated steam directly goes to the turbine, therefore steam
and moisture must be separated (water drops in steam can damage
the turbine blades). Steam leaving the turbine is condensed in the
condenser and then fed back to the reactor after preheating. Water
that has not evaporated in the reactor vessel accumulates at the
bottom of the vessel and mixes with the pumped back feedwater.
• Since boiling in the reactor is allowed, the pressure is lower than that
of the PWRs: it is about 60 to 70 bars. The fuel is usually uranium
dioxide. Enrichment of the fresh fuel is normally somewhat lower
than that in a PWR. The advantage of this type is that - since this
type has the simplest construction - the building costs are
comparatively low.
Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR)
• In heavy water reactors both the moderator and coolant are
heavy water (D2O). A great disadvantage of this type comes
from this fact: heavy water is one of the most expensive liquids.
However, it is worth its price: this is the best moderator.
Therefore, the fuel of HWRs can be slightly (1 % to 2 %)
enriched or even natural uranium. Heavy water is not allowed
to boil, so in the primary circuit very high pressure, similar to
that of PWRs, exists
• The main representative of the heavy water type is the
Canadian CANDU reactor. In these reactors, the moderator and
coolant are spatially separated: the moderator is in a large tank
(calandria), in which there are pressure tubes surrounding the
fuel assemblies. The coolant flows in these tubes only.
• The advantage of this construction is that the whole tank need
not be kept under high pressure; it is sufficient to pressurize
the coolant flowing in the tubes. This arrangement is called
pressurized tube reactor. Warming up of the moderator is
much less than that of the coolant; its is simply lost for heat
generation or steam production. The high temperature and
high pressure coolant, similarly to PWRs, goes to the steam
generator where it boils the secondary side light water.
Another advantage of this type is that fuel can be replaced
during operation and thus there is no need for outages.
Gas Cooled Reactor (GCR)
• The gas-graphite reactors operate using graphite as moderator
and some gas (mostly CO2, lately helium) as coolant.
• Gas Cooled Graphite Moderator: (UK)
• Coolant: CO2
• Moderator: Graphite
• Fuel: Natural Uranium
• Pressure: 7 Bar
• Temperature: 336 degree C

• High Temperature GCR (US)

• Coolant: He
• Fuel: U(233), Thorium
• Pressure: 15 to 30 bar
• Temperature: 700-800 degree C
• Thermal efficiency: 40%
• The gas is circulated through the reactor core (instead of
water). The gas is safer and effective as a coolant and easy to
handle; it can be operated at high temperature because of very
high melting point of graphite (C)
Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGR)
• These are the second generation of British gas-cooled reactors,
using graphite moderator and carbon dioxide as primary
coolant.
• The fuel is uranium oxide pellets, enriched to 2.5-3.5%, in
stainless steel tubes. The carbon dioxide circulates through the
core, reaching 650°C and then past steam generator tubes
outside it, but still inside the concrete and steel pressure vessel
(hence 'integral' design).
• Control rods penetrate the moderator and a secondary
shutdown system involves injecting nitrogen to the coolant.
• The AGR was developed from the Magnox reactor, also
graphite moderated and CO2 cooled, and one of these is still
operating in UK to late 2014. They use natural uranium fuel in
metal form. Secondary coolant is water.
• The newest gas cooled reactor type is the HTGR (High
Temperature Gas cooled Reactor), which is cooled by helium
and moderated by graphite. In this reactor as high as 950 oC
coolant temperature can be achieved. The efficiency of a newly
developed type, the Gas Turbine Modular Helium Reactor (GT-
MHR) might be as high as almost 50 %.
Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor
• In this reactor sodium work as a coolant and graphite work as a
moderator.
• The liquid metal coolant can be operated at high operating
temperature and lower pressure (650 degree C , 1 bar). The thermal
efficiency is higher due to higher temperature.
• First heat exchanger: primary Sodium loop to secondary Sodium loop
• Second heat exchanger : Secondary sodium loop to water/steam
loop.
• Sodium boils at 880 degre C under atmospheric pressure and freezes
at 95 degree C. Here the sodium is first melted by electric heating
system and is pressurised to about 7 bar.
• The liquid sodium is then circulated by the circulating pump. The
reactor have two coolant circuits or loops.
i. The primary circuit has liquid sodium which circulate through the fuel core
and get heated by the fissioning of the fuel. This liquid sodium gets cooled
in the intermediate heat exchanger and goes back to the reactor vessel.
 ii. The secondary circuit has an alloy of sodium and potassium in liquid
form. This coolant takes heat from the intermediate heat exchanger
which get heat from liquid sodium of primary circuit. The liquid
sodium potassium then passed through a boiler which is once
through type having tubes only. The steam generated from this
boiler will be superheated, feedwater from condenser enters the
boiler, the heated sodium potassium passing through the tubes gives
its heat to water thus converting it into steam.
• Thus reactor vessel, primary loop and intermediate heat
exchanger are to be shielded for radio activity. The liquid metal
be handled under the cover of an inert gas such as helium to
present contact with air while charging or draining the primary
or secondary circuit.
Safety in nuclear power plants in
India
Safety in nuclear power plants (NPPs) in India is a very important topic and it is
necessary to dissipate correct information to all the readers and the public at large.
In this article, I have briefly described how the safety in our NPPs is maintained.
Safety is accorded overriding priority in all the activities. NPPs in India are not only
safe but are also well regulated, have proper radiological protection of workers and
the public, regular surveillance, dosimetry, approved standard operating and
maintenance procedures, a well-defined waste management methodology, proper
well documented and periodically rehearsed emergency preparedness and disaster
management plans. The NPPs have occupational health policies covering periodic
medical examinations, dosimetry and bioassay and are backed-up by fully equipped
Personnel Decontamination Centers manned by doctors qualified in Occupational
and Industrial Health. All the operating plants are ISO 14001 and IS 18001 certified
plants. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited today has 17 operating
plants and five plants under construction, and our scientists and engineers are fully
geared to take up many more in order to meet the national requirements.
Thank You