Nuclear Power Plant Engineering - BUET

Power Plan t Engineeri ng
Nucl ear Power
Acknowledgement: Engr. M. Ali Zulquarnain

Director, ROMU, AERE, BAEC
MA Islam, Dept of MECHE, BUET

Wh y Nu clear En erg y?
At the present consumption level, known reserves for coal, oil and gas
correspond to a duration of the order of 230, 45 and 65 years.
Which Primary
Energy Source ?
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Wh y Nuclea r En ergy?. ..
Only two natural resources have the
capability to support long term energetic
survival of mankind:
• Nuclear and
• Solar
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Nuclea r F uel: Ver y hig h H ea t
Value
Sl. No. Fuel Heat Value (MJ*/kg)
1. Firewood 16
2. Brown coal 9
3. Black coal (low quality) 13 - 20
4. Black coal 24 - 30
5. Natural Gas 39
6. Crude Oil 45 - 46
7. Uranium** - in light water 500,000
reactor
*MJ = Mega Joules,
** Natural U
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No G HGs a nd s ma ll a mo unt of
wastes
Waste Produced:
Fuel Consumption:
About 3 million
Coal plant
7 million tonnes of
tonnes of coal
gaseous
per year
& 300,000 tonnes of
solid
wastes per year
About 27 NPP*
tonnes of UO2 0.7 tonne of high level
radioactive waste
per year per year
Each 1000 MWe

*NPP: Nuclear Power Plant
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Compa rati ve carbo n emi ssi on
Source Kilograms of carbon

per MW-h produced
Nuclear fission 4
Geothermal 79
Gas 430
Oil 828
Coal 955
Coal-fired
power station,
Bombay
Source: British Royal Academy of Engineering (2006)
MA Islam, MED, BUET

Ea sy transpor ta tion of f uel
1000 MW NPP* 1000 MW Coal Fired Plant
……………………….
≈ 2 tons ) ……………………….
……………………….
30 trainloads of coal per months

*NPP: Nuclear Power Plant (260,000 tons)
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Co mparative ele ct ric it y pro duct ion
co st s per MW- h ( UK da ta ):
Source Cost £/MW-h

Nuclear fission 23
Gas 22
Coal 25−32
On-shore wind 30
On-shore wind with back-up 54
Off-shore wind 55
Off-shore wind with back-up 72
Source: British Royal Academy of Engineering (2006)
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Co mpara tive ele ct rici ty pro duct ion
co st s per M W- h ( US data ):
Source Cost
$/MW-h
Nuclear fission 17.2
Coal 22.1
Gas 75.1
Oil 80.9
Source: Nuclear Energy Institute (2006)
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Is Nu cl ear Ener gy Saf e?
• Maturity of technology: Nuclear power
reactors have attained maturity over 50
years of operation.
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Is Nuclea r En erg y Safe?. ..
• Multiple barriers: Multiple barriers like (1) fuel
matrix, (2) fuel cladding, (3) reactor pressure
vessel as well as primary piping and (4)
containment building are used to prevent any
release of radioactivity into the atmosphere.
The containment building contains any
accidental release of radioactivity from the
reactor primary cooling system.
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Mu lti ple b ar riers
Length: about 7m
No. of assemblies: 190 (for a 1000MW reactor)
PWR Fuel A ss embly

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Multiple barriers…
PROTECTION AGAINST
EXTERNAL HAZARDS
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• Two major accidents: Only two major

nuclear accidents occurred so far,
namely the Three Mile Island (TMI)
accident and in 1979 and the Chernobyl
accident is 1986.
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TMI acci den t
TMI Unit-2
TMI Unit-2 Reactor:
Power: 900 MWe
Type: PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor)
Date of accident: 28 March, 1979
Loss of life/over exposure to radiation: None
Note: TMI Unit-1 is a 800 MWe PWR commissioned in 1974

The reactor is still operating with very good records.
TMI: Three Mile Island
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Ch er nobyl acci den t
Chernobyl Unit-4 Reactor:

Power: 1000 MWe
Type: RBMK (Graphite moderated BWR)
Date of accident: 26 April, 1986
Loss of life: 56 (as of today)
Cases of cancer: 4000
Evacuation & resettlement: 300,000
Note: The accident produced contamination level,

which was 400 times of that produced by the
Hiroshima bomb.
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TM I & C her nobyl
ac ci den ts
Both of the accidents occurred
mainly because the operators
had disabled the safety systems
of the reactors.
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Coal m ine acc id en t
Death of more than

25,000 people in
5 years!!
Source: http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/239291.htm
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• Subsequent improvements: Lessons learned

from these two major accidents and other
minor ones helped to improve both design
and operational procedures of nuclear
reactors.
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• Safety features: Present day nuclear reactors
incorporate unique, reliable, tested and fail-safe
safety features to minimize nuclear accidents.
• Reduced accident rate: As a result, no nuclear

accident involving any significant release of
radioactivity to the atmosphere took place since
Chernobyl accident in 1986.
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• WANO: The World Association of Nuclear
Operators (WANO) ensures adherence to high level
of safety by setting international benchmarks.
• Nuclear wastes: All high level radioactive wastes

are being stored safely. Many proposals for their
safe management and disposal are now under
active consideration.
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“Today, the waste disposal

issue is not a technical problem
but one of public and political
acceptance.”
---- IAEA Bulletin, Volume 47/2, March 2006
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• 439 nuclear reactors are operating in 31

countries.
• Worldwide 12 countries are constructing
32 new nuclear power units.
• Eighteen of the reactors under
construction are of the Pressurized Water
Reactor (PWR) type.
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• Nine countries are panning to

construct 31 more nuclear power
units.
• Fifteen countries are considering
whether to construct 73 more nuclear
power units.
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Nuclear vs. fossil power plant
Nuclear power Fossil-fired
plant with pressurized
power plantwater reactor
•Fossil and nuclear power plants differ in the way generating

the heat for„Nuclear
steam turbines
reactors are the most complicated way of boiling water” (Einstein)
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Nu cl ear React ors
What is a Nuclear
Reactor?
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Nu cl ear React ors…
Answer:
Nuclear Reactor is a
system / device where a
nuclear reaction takes
place.
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Examples of Nuclear Reactors:
ITER
(1) Fusion Reactor
(2) Fission Reactor

PWR
(3) Accelerator Driven System

(ADS) OR Spallation Reactor
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(1) Fusion Reactors:
1. The Sun & the Stars
(Natural
Fusion Reactors)
100 billion X 100 billion
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(1) Fusion Reactors…:
2. ITER (International Thermonuclear
Experimental Reactor)
• Construction started in France in 2006.
• Cost is approximately €10 billion ($12.1
billion).
• The program is anticipated to last for 30
years: 10 years for construction, and 20
years of operation.
• First plasma operation is expected in
2016.
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(1) Fusion Reactors…:
2. ITER (International Thermonuclear
Experimental Reactor)…
ITER is designed to
produce approximately
500 MW of fusion power
that can sustain for about
500 seconds.
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Nucl ear Fissi on…
Generation-1 Generation-2
Neutron Neutron
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Nucl ear Rea ctors…
(2) Fission Reactors:
0 n1
( slow) + 92 U 235

→ 92 U 236*

→ 40 Zr 98
+ 52Te136
+ 2n + Energy (200 Mev)
Gen-2 Gen-3 U238
U235
E = mc 2 Natural abundance U-isotopes:
(c) U-238 : 99.3%

Energy / fission: 200 MeV (≈ 1 MWD / g) (d) U-235 : 0.7%
No. of neutrons / fission: 2.43

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Nucl ear r ea ctor oper ation
princ iple ...
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princ iple ...
Ho w a F issi on React or Wo rks?
• A Super Critical Assembly (SCA) of fissile

material (U-235, U-233 & Pu-239) is made
Sub-critical by inserting neutron absorber
materials (Cd, C, B, etc.) in it.
• The neutron absorber materials are known as
the Control Rods. The SCA along with the Control
Rods is known as the Reactor Core.
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princ iple ...
Ho w a F issi on React or Wo rks?...
• When the Control Rods (CRs) are gradually

withdrawn from the reactor core in presence
of a neutron source, Criticality is achieved.
• Further withdrawal of the CRs makes the

core super critical and help increase the
power level of the reactor.
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princ iple ...
Ho w a F issi on React or Wo rks?...
• Reactor power level decreases when the

Control Rods (CRs) are gradually inserted
into the core.
• Total insertion of the CRs makes the reactor

sub-critical. And we call that the reactor is in
shutdown condition.
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Typ es o f R eac tor
Purpose: Coolant / Moderator:

2. Power Reactors 2. Light Water Reactors
3. Research Reactors 3. Heavy Water Reactors
4. Gas Cooled Reactor
Energy of ‘n’ causing fission:

• Thermal Reactor (E ≈ 0.025 eV)
• Fast Reactors (E ≥ 1.0 MeV)
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Typ es of React or…
Power Reactors:
• LWRs (Light Water Reactors)
– PWR (Pressurised Water
Reactor)
– BWR (Boiling Water Reactor)

-- Russian RMBK Reactor
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Power Reactors…:
• PHWR (Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor)
OR
CANDU (Canadian Deuterium Uranium)
• HTGR (High Temperature Gas Cooled
Reactor)
• LMFBR (Liquid Metal Cooled Fast Breeder

Reactor)
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PWR :
MA Islam, MED, BUET PWR: Pressurized Water Reactor

Types of Reactor…
Sectio nal View o f a PWR

PWR …:
Dimensions of a typical
PWR reactor pressure vessel:
Height : 15 m (49 ft)
Diameter : 5 m (16 ft)
Wall : 25 cm (10 in) thick steel
Containment : 1 m thick concrete (steel lined)
Core loading : 82 tons of UO2
Pressure (Pri.) : 2250 psig (158 Atmos )

PWR …:
Arrangements of RPV,
Steam Generators,
Primary pumps,
Pressurizer, etc.
RPV: Reactor Pressure Vessel

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BWR :
MA Islam, MED, BUET BWR: Boiling Water Reactor

PHWR:
PH WR / C AN DU:
Fuel Bundle
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Dis tri but io n of wo rl d’s 439 reactors
amo ng t he R eactor Ty pes me ntio ned:
Reactor Type Qty. % of Total
PWR : 266 (61%)
BWR : 94 (21%)
PHWR : 40 (09%)
HTGR : 23 (05%)
RBMK : 12 (03%)
LMFBR : 04 (01%)
TOTAL : 439
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Status of NPPs: World Perspective
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Status of NPPs: World Perspective…
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Co ntri butio n of NP P* to Ele ct ri c
Power P roduct ion
% of total production : 16%
16%
*NPP: Nuclear Power Plant

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NP Ps in Operati on
CANDU Reactors at Pickering, Canada
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NP Ps in Oper ati on…
Diablo Canyon - CA
PWRs in Diablo Canyon - CA , the USA
PWR: Pressurized Water Reactor

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CANDU at Qinshan,
China
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A BWR in Japan
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NP Ps in
Opera ti on…
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Generations of Nuclear Reactors Generation IV
Generation III+ Revolutionary

Designs
Generation III Evolutionary
Generation II Designs
Generation I
Advanced LWRs
Commercial Power
Early Prototypes
- Safe
- ABWR - Sustainable
- CANDU 6 - ACR1000 - Economical
- PWRs - System 80+ - AP1000 - Proliferation
- Shippingport - APWR Resistant and
- BWRs - AP600 Physically
- Dresden - EPR
- CANDU Secure
- Magnox - ESBWR
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030
Gen I Gen II Gen III Gen III+ Gen IV

http://www.gen-4.org/Technology/evolution.htm
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Ge nera tion-III + React ors
Advan ced Pas sive Rea ctor
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Ge nera tion III+ React ors…
Advanced Re actors : AP10 00 (Adv anc ed

Pa ss ive)
Features:
– Light water reactor (LWR)
– Passive systems (gravity, natural
circulation, compressed gas, etc.) ensures
safety
– 36 month construction period
– 60 years design life
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Wast e Man ag em en t
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Waste Management…
146
t
Nuc lear Fuel

Cyc le
1000 MW
NPP
Yellow Cake
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Nu cle ar Fuel Cyc le
UO2
UF6
U3O8
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Conten ts of fresh & spen t
fuel s
Fresh Fuel Spent Fuel
Contents Fresh Fuel Spent Fuel

U-238 967 943.00
U-235 33 8.00
• More than 99% of the radioactivity FP 35.00
produced during the fission Pu 8.75
reaction is retained in the fuel rods.
U-236 4.60
• The balance 1% is within the TUE 0.65
reactor structure. Total (kg): 1000 1000.00
FP: Fission Products; TUE: Transuranic elements
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Wast e M an ag em en t…
Contents of Spent Fuel
• 96% U (w/EL at about 0.8%)

• 3% Fission Products (FPs)
• 1% Pu & Minor Actinides (MA)
EL: Enrichment Level
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How much wastes are produced per year from a 1000 MW NPP?
• 27t of high level waste; if reprocessed, this gives 3m3 or 8t

of wastes to be disposed of.
• 300t of intermediate level of waste.
• 450t of low level waste.
Coal fired plant with best available pollution abatement:
• 6.5Mt of CO2; 20,000t of SO2; 4,000t of NO2
• 300,000t of ash; 400t of heavy metals including Hg, Cd, Pb,

As, and Vd (Vanadium).
MA Islam, MED, BUET

Three general principles employed in

the management of radioactive
wastes:
• Concentrate-and-contain.
• Dilute-and-disperse.
• Delay-and-decay.
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Concentrate-and-contain
• This block contains material

chemically identical to vitrified high-
level waste from reprocessing of
spent nuclear fuel.
• A piece of this size would contain the

total high-level waste arising from
nuclear electricity generation for one
person throughout a normal lifetime.
MA Islam, MED, BUET

Concentrate-and-contain…
• High level wastes can be stored in

repositories for hundreds of years.
• Egyptian pyramids survived for

several thousands years. So, with
the modern technology, it is quite
possible to build structures that
can survive even for longer period
of time.
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Delay-and-decay
• After 50 years, the spent fuel

removed from a reactor has less
than one thousandth of its initial
radioactivity.
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Delay-and-decay…
• Even after one year, typical spent

fuel generates decay heat at a rate of
about 10 kW/t.
• After ten years the decay heat rate

decreases to about 1 kW/t.
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Wet Storage Facility for

the Spent Fuels
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Spent fu el st ora ge…
Dry Storage for Spent
Fuel at Reactor Site
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Transportation of Spent Fuel back to the

country of origin after 10-30 years of cooling
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What is Radiation?
 Atoms are the building blocks of all material. If atoms contain
excess energy, they are unstable. Materials that are
composed of unstable atoms will naturally emit radiation in
order to release the excess energy and reach a stable state.
The radiation is emitted in waves or particles of energy. Thus
radiation can be defined as energy emitted from the nucleus
of unstable atoms in the form of particles or waves.
 Radiation is not new or limited to nuclear power plants. Each
of us is exposed to some radiation every moment of our lives
from radioactive materials that exist in nature.
MA Islam, MED, BUET

Natural Radiation
 Natural radiation is a by-product of processes and
materials created when the earth was formed. The sun
on which we all depend for heat and light produces very
highly charged particles called cosmic rays. We are
exposed continuously to this radiation every day.
 Not many people realize that we all have radiation
sources within our bodies, usually in the form of
potassium. Radioactive potassium occurs naturally in
the earth and is therefore present in trace amounts in
the food we eat and the water we drink.
MA Islam, MED, BUET

Natural Radiation….
 Additionally, radioactivity from uranium and thorium is

found in rocks and soil. For example, radon gas is a
source of radiation that results from the decay of uranium
found in the earth. Radon gas has recently been
identified as a concern because it can penetrate through
the foundation of homes. Recent studies show that radon
gas contributes more than half of our radiation exposure
each year.
MA Islam, MED, BUET

Man-Made Radiation
 X-ray machines are used for dental and medical

purposes, television sets are used for entertainment and
microwave ovens are used to cook foods.
 Nuclear power plants use the energy of radiation to
convert water to steam, which is then used to generate
electricity.
MA Islam, MED, BUET

Measuring Radiation
 Each type of radiation has somewhat different characteristics.
It is possible to measure the biological effects of the different
types of radiation in terms of a unit of exposure called a
"rem". This is a relatively large unit, so the biological effects of
radiation are described in millirem, which are a thousand
times smaller than a rem.
 Radiation measurement techniques are highly advanced and
can detect small changes in the environmental radiation level.
Results of extensive environmental radiation monitoring
confirm that routine plant operation does not contribute a
significant amount of radiation exposure.
MA Islam, MED, BUET

Measuring Radiation….
 People living near a NPP receive less than one millirem a year
due to the plant's operation. This compares to the 360 millirem
of exposure received annually from natural background
radiation and other man-made sources.
 Since every living thing on earth has been continuously
exposed to radiation, such exposure is normal. The level of
exposure from natural radiation and man-made sources is
considered very low-level exposure.
 Scientists continue to study the risks associated with low-level
radiation exposure to determine its effects on humans. The
studies show that negative health effects caused by low-level
exposures cannot be distinguished from those caused by other
environmental hazards. After more than 80 years of study,
radiation is readily detected, understood and strictly regulated.
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Power Plan t Engineeri ng

Nucl ear Power

Acknowledgement: Engr. M. Ali Zulquarnain

MA Islam, Dept of MECHE, BUET

MA Islam, MED, BUET

MA Islam, MED, BUET

Each 1000 MWe

Source Kilograms of carbon

Source: British Royal Academy of Engineering (2006)

MA Islam, MED, BUET

1000 MW NPP* 1000 MW Coal Fired Plant

30 trainloads of coal per months

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Source Cost £/MW-h

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MA Islam, MED, BUET

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PWR Fuel A ss embly

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• Two major accidents: Only two major

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Type: PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor)

Date of accident: 28 March, 1979

Loss of life/over exposure to radiation: None

Note: TMI Unit-1 is a 800 MWe PWR commissioned in 1974

Chernobyl Unit-4 Reactor:

Type: RBMK (Graphite moderated BWR)

Date of accident: 26 April, 1986

Loss of life: 56 (as of today)

Cases of cancer: 4000

Evacuation & resettlement: 300,000

Note: The accident produced contamination level,

MA Islam, MED, BUET

MA Islam, MED, BUET

Death of more than

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• Subsequent improvements: Lessons learned

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• Reduced accident rate: As a result, no nuclear

MA Islam, MED, BUET

• Nuclear wastes: All high level radioactive wastes

MA Islam, MED, BUET

“Today, the waste disposal

MA Islam, MED, BUET

• 439 nuclear reactors are operating in 31

MA Islam, MED, BUET

• Nine countries are panning to

MA Islam, MED, BUET

•Fossil and nuclear power plants differ in the way generating

MA Islam, MED, BUET

MA Islam, MED, BUET

(2) Fission Reactor

(3) Accelerator Driven System

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MA Islam, MED, BUET

MA Islam, MED, BUET

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E = mc 2 Natural abundance U-isotopes:

(c) U-238 : 99.3%

No. of neutrons / fission: 2.43

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• A Super Critical Assembly (SCA) of fissile

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