2.

BOILING WATER REACTOR

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A boiling water reactor (BWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor

developed by the General Electric Company in the mid 1950s.

2.2.CONTENTS
[hide]

• 1 Description
o 1.1 Comparison with other reactors
o 1.2 Feedwater
o 1.3 Control systems
o 1.4 Start-Up ("Going Critical")
o 1.5 Reactor Protection System SCRAM
o 1.6 Thermal Margins
o 1.7 Steam Turbines
o 1.8 Safety
o 1.9 Size
• 2 Advantages
• 3 Disadvantages
• 4 List of BWRs
o 4.1 U.S. Commercial Boiling Water Reactor Nuclear
Power Plants
o 4.2 Other commercial BWRs
o 4.3 Experimental and other BWRs
o 4.4 Next-generation designs
• 5 See also

• 6 External links
2.3. [EDIT] DESCRIPTION

The BWR is characterized by two-phase fluid flow (water and steam) in the
upper part of the reactor core. Light water (i.e., common distilled water) is the
working fluid used to conduct heat away from the nuclear fuel. The water
around the fuel elements also "thermalizes" neutrons, i.e., reduces their kinetic
energy, which is necessary to improve the probability of fission of fissile fuel.
Fissile fuel material, such as the U-235 and Pu-239 isotopes, have large capture
cross sections for thermal neutrons.

2.3.1. [edit] Comparison with other reactors

Light water is ordinary water. In comparison, some other water-cooled reactor

types use heavy water, such as the Canadian made CANDU reactor series. In
heavy water, the deuterium isotope of hydrogen replaces the common hydrogen
atoms in the water molecules (D2O instead of H2O, molecular weight 20 instead
of 18).

The Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) was the first type of light-water reactor
developed because of its application to submarine propulsion. The civilian
motivation for the BWR is reducing costs for commercial applications through
design simplification and lower pressure components. There are no naval BWR
type reactors. The description of BWRs below describes civilian reactor plants
in which the same water used for reactor cooling is also used in the Rankine
cycle turbine generators.

In contrast to the pressurized water reactors that utilize a primary and secondary
loop, in civilian BWRs the steam going to the turbine that powers the electrical
generator is produced in the reactor core rather than in steam generators or heat
exchangers. There is just a single circuit in a civilian BWR in which the water
is at lower pressure (about 75 times atmospheric pressure) compared to a PWR
so that it boils in the core at about 285°C. The reactor is designed to operate
with steam comprising 12–15% of the mass of the two-phase coolant flow (exit
quality) in the top part of the core, resulting in less moderation, lower neutron
efficiency and lower power density than in the bottom part of the core. In
comparison, there is no significant boiling allowed in a PWR because of the
high pressure maintained in its primary loop (about 158 times atmospheric
pressure).

2.3.2. [edit] Feedwater

Steam exiting from the turbine flows into condensers located underneath the
low pressure turbines where the steam is cooled and returned to the liquid state
(condensate). The condensate is then pumped through feedwater heaters that
raise its temperature using extraction steam from various turbine stages.
Feedwater from the feedwater heaters enters the reactor pressure vessel (RPV)
through nozzles high on the vessel, well above the top of the nuclear fuel
assemblies (these nuclear fuel assemblies constitute the "core") but below the
water level.

The feedwater enters into the downcomer region and combines with water
exiting the water separators. The feedwater subcools the saturated water from
the steam separators. This water now flows down the downcomer region, which
is separated from the core by a tall shroud. The water then goes through either
jet pumps or internal recirculation pumps that provide additional pumping
power (hydraulic head). The water now makes a 180 degree turn and moves up
through the lower core plate into the nuclear core where the fuel elements heat
the water. Water exiting the fuel channels at the top guide is about 12 to 15%
saturated steam (by mass), typical core flow may be 100E6 lb/hr with 14.5E6
lb/hr steam flow. However, core-average void fraction is a significantly higher
fraction (~40%). These sort of values may be found in each plant's publicly
available Technical Specifications, Final Safety Analysis Report, or Core
Operating Limits Report.

The heating from the core creates a thermal head that assists the recirculation
pumps in recirculating the water inside of the RPV. A BWR can be designed
with no recirculation pumps and rely entirely on the thermal head to recirculate
the water inside of the RPV. The forced recirculation head from the
recirculation pumps is very useful in controlling power, however. The thermal
power level is easily varied by simply increasing or decreasing the forced
recirculation flow through the recirculation pumps.

The two phase fluid (water and steam) above the core enters the riser area,
which is the upper region contained inside of the shroud. The height of this
region may be increased to increase the thermal natural recirculation pumping
head. At the top of the riser area is the water separator. By swirling the two
phase flow in cyclone separators, the steam is separated and rises upwards
towards the steam dryer while the water remains behind and flows horizontally
out into the downcomer region. In the downcomer region, it combines with the
feedwater flow and the cycle repeats.

The saturated steam that rises above the separator is dried by a chevron dryer
structure. The steam then exits the RPV through four main steam lines and goes
to the turbine.
2.3.3. [edit] Control systems

Reactor power is controlled via two methods: by inserting or withdrawing

control rods and by changing the water flow through the reactor core.

Positioning (withdrawing or inserting) control rods is the normal method for

controlling power when starting up a BWR. As control rods are withdrawn,
neutron absorption decreases in the control material and increases in the fuel, so
reactor power increases. As control rods are inserted, neutron absorption
increases in the control material and decreases in the fuel, so reactor power
decreases. Some early BWRs and the proposed ESBWR (Economic Simplified
BWR) designs use only natural circulation with control rod positioning to
control power from zero to 100% because they do not have reactor recirculation
systems.

Changing (increasing or decreasing) the flow of water through the core is the
normal and convenient method for controlling power. When operating on the
so-called "100% rod line," power may be varied from approximately 70% to
100% of rated power by changing the reactor recirculation system flow by
varying the speed of the recirculation pumps. As flow of water through the core
is increased, steam bubbles ("voids") are more quickly removed from the core,
the amount of liquid water in the core increases, neutron moderation increases,
more neutrons are slowed down to be absorbed by the fuel, and reactor power
increases. As flow of water through the core is decreased, steam voids remain
longer in the core, the amount of liquid water in the core decreases, neutron
moderation decreases, fewer neutrons are slowed down to be absorbed by the
fuel, and reactor power decreases.

2.3.4. [edit] Start-Up ("Going Critical")

GE developed a set of rules in the '70s called BPWS (Banked Position

Withdrawal Sequence) that help minimize notch worths and going critical with
asymmetric patterns.

2.3.5. [edit] Reactor Protection System SCRAM

Depending on the power level of the reactor (i.e. ascending or at power) there
are circumstances where all control rods will automatically insert, which will
take the reactor to decay heat power levels within tens of seconds. Since ~ 0.6%
of neutrons are emitted from fission products ("delayed" neutrons), which are
born seconds/minutes after fission, all fission can not be terminated
instantaneously. Automatic SCRAMs (SCRAM = immediate insertion of all
control rods) are initiated upon:

1. Low reactor water level indicative of:

1. loss of coolant accident (i.e. LOCA)
2. loss of proper feedwater
3. etc.
2. High drywell (primary containment) pressure
1. indicative of loss of coolant accident
3. Main Steam Isolation Valve Closure (MSIV)
1. indicative of main steam line break
4. Turbine stop valve or turbine control valve closure
1. if turbine protection systems wish to cease
admission of steam the Reactor SCRAM is in
anticipation of a pressure transient that would
increase reactivity (collapse boiling voids)
2. generator load rejection will also cause closure of
turbine valves and SCRAM reactor
5. Loss of Offsite Power
1. during normal operation, the reactor protection
system (RPS) is powered by offsite power
1. loss of offsite power would open all relays in
the RPS would open causing all SCRAM
signals to come in redundantly
2. would also cause MSIV to close since RPS is
fail safe; plant assumes a main steam break
is coincident with loss of offsite power
2.3.6. [edit] Thermal Margins

Three calculated/measured quantities are tracked while operating a BWR,

MFLCPR (Maximum Fraction Limiting Critical Power Ratio), FLLHGR
(Fraction Limiting Linear Heat Generation Rate), APLHGR (Average Planar
Linear Heat Generation Rate). All three of these quantities must be kept less
than 1.0 during normal operation; administrative controls are in place to assure
some margin to these licensed limits. Typical computer simulations divide the
reactor core into 24-25 axial planes; relevant quantities (margins, burnup,
power, void history) are tracked for each "node" in the reactor core (764 fuel
assemblies x 25 nodes/assembly = 19100 nodal calculations/quantity).
MFLCPR represents how close the leading fuel bundle is to "dry-out" or
"departure from nucleate boiling." Transition boiling is the unstable transient
region where nucleate boiling tends toward film boiling. A water drop dancing
on a hot frying pan is an example of film boiling. During film boiling a volume
of insulating vapor separates the heated surface from the cooling fluid; this
causes the temperature of the heated surface to increase drastically to once
again reach equilibrium heat transfer with the cooling fluid. In other words,
steam semi-insulates the heated surface and surface temperature rises to allow
heat to get to the cooling fluid (through convection and radiative heat transfer).
MFLCPR is monitored with an empirical correlation that is formulated by
vendors of BWR fuel (GE, Westinghouse, AREVA-NP). The vendors have test
rigs where they simulate nuclear heat with resistive heating and determine
experimentally what conditions of coolant flow, fuel assembly power, and
reactor pressure will be in/out of the transition boiling region for a particular
fuel design. In essence, the vendors make a model of the fuel assembly but
power it with resistive heaters. These mock fuel assemblies are put into a test
stand where data points are taken at specific powers, flows, pressures. It is
obvious that nuclear fuel could be damaged by film boiling; this would cause
the fuel cladding to overheat and fail. Experimental data is conservatively
applied to BWR fuel to ensure that the transition to film boiling does not occur
during normal or transient operation. Typical SLMCPR/MCPRSL (Safety Limit
MCPR) licensing limit for a BWR core is substantiated by a calculation that
proves that 99.9% of fuel rods in a BWR core will not enter the transition to
film boiling in the event of the worst possible plant transient/scram anticipated
to occur. Since the BWR is boiling water, and steam does not transfer heat as
well as water, MFCLPR typically occurs at the top of a fuel assembly, where
steam volume is the highest. FLLHGR (FLDRX, MFLPD) is a limit on fuel rod
power in the reactor core. For new fuel, this limit is typically around 13
Kw/foot of fuel rod. This limit ensures that the centerline temperature of the
fuel pellets in the rods will not exceed the melting point of the fuel material
(uranium/gadolinium oxides) in the event of the worst possible plant
transient/scram anticipated to occur. To illustrate the response of LHGR in
transient imagine the rapid closure of the valves that admit steam to the turbines
at full power. This causes the immediate cessation of steam flow and an
immediate rise in BWR pressure. This rise in pressure effectively subcools the
reactor coolant instantaneously; the voids (vapor) collapse into solid water.
When the voids collapse in the reactor, the fission reaction is encouraged (more
thermal neutrons); power increases drastically (120%) until it is terminated by
the automatic insertion of the control rods. So, when the reactor is isolated from
the turbine rapidly, pressure in the vessel rises rapidly, which collapses the
water vapor, which causes a power excursion which is terminated by the
Reactor Protection System. If a fuel pin was operating at 13.0 Kw/foot prior to
the transient, the void collapse would cause its power to rise. The FLLHGR
limit is place to ensure that the highest powered fuel rod would not melt if its
power was rapidly increased following a pressurization transient. Abiding by
the LHGR limit precludes melting of fuel in a pressurization transient.
APLHGR being an average of LHGR is a margin to fuel melt during a LOCA
(Loss of Coolant Accident - pressure boundary rupture). The BWR plant was
designed with doom's-day protection systems that will ensure the integrity of
the reactor fuel in the event of a massive pipe rupture and rapid de-
pressurization of the vessel, which would uncover the fuel. These protection
systems have capacities that they can handle and it is required that the heat
stored in the fuel assemblies at any one time does not overwhelm the protection
systems. APLHGR is monitored to ensure that the reactor is not operated at an
average power level that would defeat the primary containment systems. When
a [reloaded] core is licensed to operate, the fuel vendor/licensee simulate
transients with computer models. Their approach is to simulate worst case
transients in the reactor's most vulnerable states.

2.3.7. [edit] Steam Turbines

Steam produced in the reactor core passes through steam separators and dryer
plates above the core and then directly to the turbine, which is part of the
reactor circuit. Because the water around the core of a reactor is always
contaminated with traces of radionuclides, the turbine must be shielded during
normal operation, and radiological protection must be provided during
maintenance. The increased cost related to operation and maintenance of a
BWR tends to balance the savings due to the simpler design and greater thermal
efficiency of a BWR when compared with a PWR. Most of the radioactivity in
the water is very short-lived (mostly N-16, with a 7 second half life), so the
turbine hall can be entered soon after the reactor is shut down.

2.3.8. [edit] Safety

Like the pressurized water reactor, the BWR reactor core continues to produce
heat from radioactive decay after the fission reactions have stopped, making
nuclear meltdown possible in the event that all safety systems have failed and
the core does not receive coolant. Also like the pressurized water reactor, a
boiling-water reactor has a negative void coefficient, that is, the thermal output
decreases as the proportion of steam to liquid water increases inside the reactor.
However, unlike a pressurized water reactor which contains no steam in the
reactor core, a sudden increase in BWR steam pressure (caused, for example,
by a blockage of steam flow from the reactor) will result in a sudden decrease
in the proportion of steam to liquid water inside the reactor. The increased ratio
of water to steam will lead to increased neutron moderation, which in turn will
cause an increase in the power output of the reactor. Because of this effect in
BWRs, operating components and safety systems are designed to ensure that no
credible, postulated failure can cause a pressure and power increase that
exceeds the safety systems' capability to quickly shutdown the reactor before
damage to the fuel or to components containing the reactor coolant can occur.

In the event of an emergency that disables all of the safety systems, each reactor
is surrounded by a containment building designed to seal off the reactor from
the environment.

2.3.9. [edit] Size

A modern BWR fuel assembly comprises 74 to 100 fuel rods, and there are up
to approximately 800 assemblies in a reactor core, holding up to approximately
140 tonnes of uranium. The number of fuel assemblies in a specific reactor is
based on considerations of desired reactor power output, reactor core size and
reactor power density.

The current generation of BWRs, in operation in Japan, are called Advanced

Boiling Water Reactors (ABWR).

2.4.[EDIT] ADVANTAGES
• The reactor vessel and associated components operate
at a substantially lower pressure (about 75 times
atmospheric pressure) compared to a PWR (about 158
times atmospheric pressure).
 • Pressure vessel is subject to significantly less irradiation
compared to a PWR, and so does not become as brittle
with age.
• Operates at a lower nuclear fuel temperature.
• Fewer components due to no steam generators and no
pressurizer vessel. (Older BWRs have external
recirculation loops, but even this piping is eliminated in
modern BWRs, such as the ABWR.)
• Lower risk (probability) of a rupture causing loss of
coolant compared to a PWR, and lower risk of a severe
accident should such a rupture occur. This is due to fewer
pipes, fewer large diameter pipes, fewer welds and no
steam generator tubes.
• Measuring the water level in the pressure vessel is the
same for both normal and emergency operations, which
results in easy and intuitive assessment of emergency
conditions.
• Can operate at lower core power density levels using
natural circulation without forced flow.
• 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.)
2.5.[EDIT] DISADVANTAGES
• Complex calculations for managing consumption of
nuclear fuel during operation due to "two phase (water
and steam) fluid flow" in the upper part of the core. This
requires more instrumentation in the reactor core. The
innovation of computers, however, makes this less of an
issue.
• Much larger pressure vessel than for a PWR of similar
power, with correspondingly higher cost. (However, the
overall cost is reduced because a modern BWR has no
main steam generators and associated piping.)
• Contamination of the turbine by short-lived activation
products. This means that shielding and access control
around the steam turbine are required during normal
operations due to the radiation levels arising from the
steam entering directly from the reactor core.
 • Control rods are inserted from below for current BWR
designs. There are two available hydraulic power sources
that can drive the control rods into the core for a BWR
under emergency conditions. There is a dedicated high
pressure hydraulic accumulator and also the pressure
inside of the reactor pressure vessel available to each
control rod. Either the dedicated accumulator (one per
rod) or reactor pressure is capable of fully inserting each
rod. Most other reactor types use top entry control rods
that are held up in the withdrawn position by
electromagnets, causing them to fall into the reactor by
gravity if power is lost.
2.6.[EDIT] LIST OF BWRS
2.6.1. [edit] U.S. Commercial Boiling Water Reactor
Nuclear Power Plants

(this list is believed to be complete)

• Big Rock Point, Michigan (decommissioned)

• BONUS, Puerto Rico (decommissioned) [1]
• Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant (Reactors 1, 2, and 3)
• Athens, Alabama (Reactor 1 to return to service in 2007
following upgrades) [2]
• Brunswick Nuclear Generating Station, North Carolina
• Clinton Nuclear Generating Station, Illinois
• Columbia Nuclear Generating Station, Washington (aka
WNP-2, Hanford-2, WPPSS-2)
• Cooper Nuclear Station, Nebraska
• Dresden Nuclear Power Plant, Illinois
• Duane Arnold Energy Center, Iowa
• Elk River Station, Minnesota (decommissioned)
• Enrico Fermi Unit 2, Michigan
• Fitzpatrick Nuclear Generating Station, New York
• Grand Gulf Nuclear Generating Station, Mississippi
• Hatch (Edwin I. Hatch) Nuclear Generating Station,
Georgia
• Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Station, New Jersey
• Humboldt Bay, California (decommissioned)
• La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor, Wisconsin
(decommissioned)
 • LaSalle County Nuclear Generating Station, Illinois
• Limerick Nuclear Power Plant, Pennsylvania
• Millstone Nuclear Power Plant (Reactor 1 only),
Connecticut (decommissioned)
• Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, Minnesota
• Nine Mile Point Nuclear Generating Station, New York
• Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, New Jersey
• Peach Bottom Nuclear Generating Station, Pennsylvania
• Perry Nuclear Generating Station, Ohio
• Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station, Massachusetts
• Quad Cities Nuclear Generating Station, Illinois
• River Bend Nuclear Generating Station, Louisiana
• Shoreham Nuclear Generating Station, New York
(decommissioned)
• Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Pennsylvania
• Vallecitos Nuclear Center, California (idle)
• Vermont Yankee, Vermont
2.6.2. [edit] Other commercial BWRs

Commercial BWRs outside the USA include:

• Finland:
o Olkiluoto 1 & 2
• Germany:
o Brunsbüttel
o Gundremmingen A (permanently shut down)
o Gundremmingen B & C
o Isar unit 1
o Krümmel
o Lingen (permanently shut down)
o Philippsburg unit 1.
o Würgassen KKW (permanently shut down)
• India:
o Tarapur units 1 & 2
• Japan:
o Tokai JPDR (decommissioned)
o Fukushima Daiichi units 1-6
o Fukushima Daini units 1-4
o Hamaoka units 1-4
o Kashiwazaki Kariwa units 1-7
o Onagawa units 1 & 2
 o Shimane units 1 & 2
o Tokai unit 2
o Tsuruga unit 1
• Netherlands
o Dodewaard (permanently shut down)
• Mexico:
o Veracruz, Laguna Verde, units 1 & 2
• Spain:
o Cofrentes (1 unit)
o Santa María de Garoña (1 unit)
• Sweden:
o Barsebäck units 1 & 2 [3] (permanently shut down)
o Forsmark units 1-3
o Oskarshamn units 1-3
o Ringhals unit 1 (units 2-4 are PWRs)
• Switzerland:
o Leibstadt (1 unit)
o Mühleberg (1 unit)

2.6.3. [edit] Experimental and other BWRs

Experimental and other non-commercial BWRs include:

• SL-1 (permanently shut down following accident in 1961)

2.6.4. [edit] Next-generation designs
• Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR)
• Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR)
2.7.[EDIT] SEE ALSO
• List of nuclear reactors
• SL-1 Accident and Lessons
• Containment building
• Nuclear Power 2010 Program
2.8.[EDIT] EXTERNAL LINKS
• Boiling Water Reactor, BWR Simulator Program
• Boiling Water Reactors, US Nuclear Regulatory
Commission
• Advanced BWR General Description (Table of Contents,
with active links to text)
• Technical details and features of Advanced BWRs
 • Text Book Chapter on "Nuclear Power Reactors"
describing various reactor types
• The Nuclear Tourist website

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