nuclear power plant seminar report

8/9/2019 Nuclear Power Plant Seminar Report

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Nuclear Power Plant

Abstract

A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear

reactor . As is typical in all conventional thermal power stations the heat is used to

generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator which

produces electricity. Nuclear power plants are usually considered to be base load stations,

since fuel is a small part of the cost of production. Nuclear power plants are not located

according to specific attributes of geography, and are therefore found all over the world.

Although as a coin has two sides, nuclear power plants also have many merits and

demerits. The present status of nuclear energy and future is also discussed further.

Dept of Mechanical Engineering, JCE, Belgaum Page 1


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Acknowledgement

I would like to acknowledge the contribution of all the people who have helped in

reviewing this report. I would like to sincerely thank our principal Dr. . !. "ishwanath,

#ead of Department Prof. D. $. Patil, staff coordinator Dr. $. %. Patil

and seminar guide Prof. &.'. erur for his guidance and support throughout the seminar

work. I thank my faculty members for giving me an opportunity to learn and present the

seminar. If not for the above mentioned people my seminar would never have been

completed successfully. I would also like to thank our families and friends who supported

us in the course of writing this report.



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Table (f )ontents

*. Introduction++++++++++++++++++++

-. iterature &urvey++++++++++++++++++/

0. #istory +++++++++++++++++++++...1

. Nuclear 2eactions+++++++++++++++++...3

/. )omponents+++++++++++++++++++....**

1. Parts of Nuclear 2eactor+++++++++++++++.*

4. Nuclear Power In India+++++++++++++++...*1

3. Advantages and Disadvantages++++++++++++...*4

5. )onclusion++++++++++++++++++++...*5*6. 2eferences++++++++++++++++++++...-6



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)hapter *

Introduction

)onventional thermal power stations use oil or coal as the source as the source of energy.

The reserves of these fuels are becoming depleted in many countries and thus there is a

tendency to seek alternative sources of energy. In a nuclear power station instead of a

furnace there is a nuclear reactor, in which heat is generated by splitting atoms of

radioactive material under suitable conditions. The conversion to electrical energy takes

place indirectly, as in conventional thermal power plants. The heat is produced by fission

in a nuclear reactor. Directly or indirectly, water vapor 7steam8 is produced. The

pressuri9ed steam is then usually fed to a multi:stage steam turbine. ;or economical use

in a power system a nuclear power station generally has to be large and where large units

are


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)hapter -

iterature &urvey

*. An Introduction to Nuclear Power !eneration by )hristopher =. $remen, )alifornia

institute of technology Pasadena, )alifornia.

The book is an introduction to a graduate level 7or advanced undergraduate level8 course

in nuclear power generation. It assumes a basic knowledge of physics, fluid mechanics

and heat transfer. (f course, the design of a nuclear power plant involves a broad range of

engineering e>pertise. This monograph focuses on the thermo hydraulics and neutronics

of nuclear power generation and, in particular, on the interplay between these that

determines the design of the reactor core. The book also has some brief description of

other critical issues such as nuclear reactor safety. This necessarily includes brief

descriptions of the three ma


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#istory of Nuclear =nergy and Power !eneration

The neutron was discovered in *50-. The concept of a nuclear chain reaction brought

about by nuclear reactions mediated by neutrons was first reali9ed shortly thereafter, by

#ungarian scientist e? &9il@rd, in *500. Inspiration for a new type of reactor using

uranium came from the discovery by ise 'eitner , ;rit9 &trassmann and (tto #ahn in

*503 that bombardment of uranium with neutrons 7provided by an alpha:on:beryllium

fusion reaction, a neutron howit9er 8 produced a barium residue, which they reasoned

was created by the fissioning of the uranium nuclei. (n Bune -4, *5/,

the C&&2 s (bninsk Nuclear Power Plant became the worlds first nuclear power plant to

generate electricity for a power grid, and produced around / megawatts of electric

power.The first commercial nuclear power station, )alder #all in &ellafield, =ngland was

opened in *5/1 with an initial capacity of /6 'E 7later -66 'E8.

Indias first research nuclear reactor and its first nuclear power plant were built with

assistance from )anada. The 6 'E research reactor agreement was signed in *5/1,

and )I2C& achieved first criticality in *516. This reactor was supplied to India on the

assurance that it would not be used for military purposes, but without effective safeguards

against such use. The technical and design information were given free of charge by Atomic =nergy of )anada imited to India. The Cnited &tates and )anada terminated

their assistance after the detonation of Indias first nuclear e>plosion in *54.

Tarapur Atomic Power &tation located in Tarapur, 'aharashtra is the first nuclear power

reactor of India. It was estabilished in (ctober -3, *515. It has a total capacity of

*,66'E.

;ig -. The image is a view

of the Tarapur Nuclear

power plant.

)hapter

Nuclear 2eactionsIn nuclear

physics and nuclear

chemistry, a nuclear

reaction is semantically considered to be the process in which two nuclei, or else a



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nucleus of an atom and a subatomic

particle 7such as a proton, neutron, or

high energy electron8 from outside the atom,

collide to produce one or more nuclides that are

different from the nuclide7s8 that began the

process. Thus, a nuclear reaction must cause a

transformation of at least one nuclide to another.

If a nucleus interacts with another nucleus or

particle and they then separate without changing

the nature of any nuclide, the process is simply

referred to as a type of nuclear scattering, rather than a nuclear reaction.There are two types of nuclear reactions

• Nuclear ;usion

• Nuclear ;ission

Nuclear ;usionIn nuclear physics, nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction in which two or more atomic

nuclei collide at a very high speed and istence of

another force referred to as nuclear attraction. This force, called the nuclear force,overcomes electric repulsion in a very close range.

'ost nuclear fusion reactions involve the fusion of two hydrogen isotopes 7Deuterium

and Tritium8 to form a helium atom releasing huge amounts of energy and a neutron.

;ig 0. A schematic representation of the eFuation of a nuclear fusion reaction.



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Nuclear fusion is currently in its e>perimental phases and is not being utili9ed for

commercial purposes due to its reFuirements of high initial energy and pressure so as to

overcome the coulombic forces and bring the nuclei in close pro>imity.

Nuclear ;issionIn nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is either a nuclear reaction or

radioactive decay process in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts

7lighter nuclei8. The fission process often produces free neutrons and photons 7in the form

of gamma rays8, and releases a very large amount of energy even by the energetic

standards of radioactive decay.

;ig . A schematic representation of the eFuation of a nuclear fission reaction.

;ission as encountered in the modern world is usually a deliberately produced man:

made nuclear reaction induced by a neutron. In an induced fission reaction, a neutron is

absorbed by uranium:-0/ nucleus turning it briefly into an e>cited uranium:-01 nucleus,

with the e>citation energy provided by the kinetic energy of the neutron plus the forces

that bind the neutron. The uraniumG-01 in turn splits

into fast moving lighter elements 7fission products8

and releases three free neutrons at the same time, one

or more Hprompt gamma rays are produced as well

)omparison between Nuclear ;usion and

Nuclear ;ission

Nuclear ;ission Nuclear ;usion

Definition;ission is the splitting of a large

atom into two or more smaller ones.

;usion is the fusing of two or more

lighter atoms into a larger one.

Natural

occurrence of

the process

;ission reaction does not normally

occur in nature.

;usion occurs in stars, such as the sun.

$yproducts of

the reaction

;ission produces many highly

radioactive particles.

;ew radioactive particles are produced

by fusion reaction

)onditions)ritical mass of the substance and

high:speed neutrons are reFuired.

#igh density, high temperature

environment is reFuired.

Dept of Mechanical Engineering, JCE, Belgaum Page


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Nuclear ;ission Nuclear ;usion

=nergy

2eFuirement

Takes little energy to split two atoms

in a fission reaction.

=>tremely high energy is reFuired to

bring two or more protons close

enough that nuclear forces overcome

their electrostatic repulsion.

=nergy 2eleased

The energy released by fission is a

million times greater than that

released in chemical reactions, but

lower than the energy released by

nuclear fusion.

The energy released by fusion is three

to four times greater than the energy

released by fission.

Nuclear weapon

(ne class of nuclear weapon is a

fission bomb, also known as an

atomic bomb or atom bomb.

(ne class of nuclear weapon is the

hydrogen bomb, which uses a fission

reaction to trigger a fusion reaction.

=nergy

production

;ission is used in nuclear power

plants.

;usion is an e>perimental technology

for producing power.

;uel

Cranium is the primary fuel used in

power plants.

#ydrogen isotopes 7Deuterium and

Tritium8 are the primary fuel used in

e>perimental fusion power plants.

)hapter /

)omponents of a Nuclear Power Plant

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http://www.diffen.com/difference/Endothermic_vs_Exothermichttp://www.diffen.com/difference/Endothermic_vs_Exothermic


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;ig /. The above figure shows the various components and the schematic layout of a

nuclear power plant.

The Various Components of a Nuclear Power Plant are:

• Nuclear 2eactorJ A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a

sustained nuclear chain reaction. In its central part, the reactor cores heat is

generated by controlled nuclear fission. Eith this heat, a coolant is heated as it is

pumped through the reactor and thereby removes the energy from the reactor. #eatfrom nuclear fission is used to raise steam, which runs through turbines, which in

turn powers either ships propellers or electrical generators.

• )ooling &ystemJ A cooling system removes heat from the reactor core and

transports it to another area of the plant, where the thermal energy can be harnessed

to produce electricity or to do other useful work. Typically the hot coolant is used as

a heat source for a boiler , and the pressuri9ed steam from that one or more steam

turbine driven electrical generators. Almost all currently operating nuclear power

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plants are light water reactors using ordinary water under high pressure as coolant

and neutron moderator. A neutron moderator slows down the speed of the neutron as

a medium, thereby turning them into thermal neutrons capable of sustaining

a nuclear chain reaction involving uranium:-0/. #eavy water

reactors use deuterium o>ide which has similar properties to ordinary water but

much lower neutron capture, allowing more thorough moderation.

• &team !eneratorK$oilerJ The heat from the reactor is used to convert water to steam,

this steam is used to run a turbine to produce electricity. The position of the boiler

depends on the type of reactor. The two most widely used reactors are

Pressuri9ed Eater 2eactor 7PE28J These constitute the maide, as its fuel. The fuel isassembled into rods housed in a steel vessel that is submerged in water. The

nuclear fission causes the water to boil, generating steam. This steam flows

through pipes into turbines. The turbines are driven by the steam, and this

process generates electricity. The main characteristic is that the boiler here

is the reactor itself and the coolant itself is used to drive the turbines. The

fluid used in the turbine is radioactive.

• &afety "alvesJ In the event of an emergency, safety valves can be used to prevent

pipes from bursting or the reactor from e>ploding. The valves are designed so thatthey can derive all of the supplied flow rates with little increase in pressure. In the

case of the $E2, the steam is directed into the suppression chamber and condenses

there. The chambers on a heat e>changer are connected to the intermediate cooling

circuit.

• Feedwater pump: The water level in the steam generator and nuclear reactor is

controlled using the feedwater system. The feedwater pump has the task of taking

the water from the condensate system, increasing the pressure and forcing it into



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either the steam generators 7in the case of a pressuri9ed water reactor8 or directly

into the reactor 7for boiling water reactors8.

• Steam Turbine: The steam generated from the boiler is used to drive the turbine.

This turbine is connected to an electric generator so as to generate electricity. )are

is taken in maintaining the condition of the turbine as it handles steam of very high

heat capacity. The turbines used in $E2s have to be radioactively sealed so as to

avoid leakage of the radioactive water.

• Electric Generator: The generator converts kinetic energy supplied by the turbine

into electrical energy. ow:pole A) synchronous generators of high rated power are

used.

• Cooling Towers: A cooling tower is a heat retracts waste

heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a water stream to a lower temperature.

)ooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and

cool the working fluid to near the wet:bulb air temperature or, in the case of closed

circuit dry cooling towers, rely solely on air to cool the working fluid to near

the dry:bulb air temperature.

•

Emergency Power Supply: 'ost nuclear plants reFuire two distinct sources of offsite power feeding station service transformers that are sufficiently separated in

the plants switchyard and can receive power from multiple transmission lines.

Nuclear power plants are eFuipped with emergency power systems to maintain

safety in the event of unit shutdown and loss of offsite power. $atteries provide

uninterruptible power to instrumentation, control systems, and valves.. The

emergency diesel generators do not power all plant systems, only those reFuired to

shut the reactor down safely, remove decay heat from the reactor, provide

emergency core cooling, and, in some plants, spent fuel pool cooling.

)hapter 1

Parts of Nuclear 2eactor



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• Nuclear fuelJ ;uel of a reactor should be fissionable material which can be defined

as a fissionable material

which can be defined as

an element or isotope

whose nuclei can be

caused to undergo

nuclear fission nuclear

bombardment and to

produce a fission chain

reaction. The fuels used

areJ C-03, C-0/, C -0,

C(-.

;ertile materials, those

which can be

transformed into fissile

materials, cannot sustain

chain reactions. Ehen afertile material is hit by

neutrons and absorbs

some of them, it is

converted to fissile

material.C-03 and Th

-0- are e>amples of

fertile materials used for reactor purposes.

• 2eactor coreJ This contains a number of fuel rods made of fissile material.



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• 'oderatorJ This material in the reactor core is used to moderate or to reduce the

neutron speeds to a value that increases the probability of fission occurring.

• )ontrol rodsJ The energy inside the reactor is controlled by the control rod. These

are in cylindrical or sheet form made of boron or cadmium.

These rods can be moved in and out of the holes in the reactor core assembly.

• 2eflectorJ This completely surrounds the reactor core within the thermal shielding

arrangement and helps to bounce escaping neutrons back into the core. This

conserves the nuclear fuel.

• 2eactor vesselJ It is a strong walled container housing the core of the power reactor.

It contains moderate, reflector, thermal shielding and control rods.

• $iological shieldingJ &hielding helps in giving protection from the deadly L: and M:

particle radiations and :rays as well as neutrons given off by the process of fission

within the reactor.

• )oolantJ This removes heat from the core produced by nuclear reaction. The types

of coolants used are carbon dio>ide, air, hydrogen, helium, sodium or sodium

potassium.



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)hapter 4

Nuclear Power in India

Nuclear power is the fourth largest source of electricity in India after thermal,hydroelectric and renewable sources of electricity. As of -6*0, India has -* nuclear

reactors in operation in 4 nuclear power plants, having an installed capacity of /436'E

and producing a total of 06,-5-.5* !Eh of electricity while seven other reactors are

under construction and are e>pected to generate an additional 1,*66 'E.

Power

stationOperator State Type Units

Total capacity

(MW)

Kaiga NPCIL Karnataka PHW !!" # $ %%"

Kakrapar NPCIL &'arat PHW !!" # ! $$"

Maras NPCIL Ta*il Na' PHW !!" # ! $$"

Narora NPCIL Uttar Praes+ PHW !!" # ! $$"

aast+an NPCIL Kota aast+an PHW

,"" # ,

!"" # ,

!!" # $

,,%"

Tarap'r NPCIL Ma+aras+tra -WPHW

,." # !/$" # !

,$$"

K'ank'la* NPCIL Ta*il Na' 0012,""" ,""" # , ,"""

)hapter 3



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Advantages of Nuclear Power Plant

&pace reFuirement of a nuclear power plant is less as compared to other

conventional power plants of eFual si9e.

A nuclear power plant consumes very small Fuantity of fuel. Thus fuel

transportation cost is less and large fuel storage facility is not needed.

There is increased reliability of operation.

Nuclear power plants are not affected by adverse weather conditions.

Nuclear power plants are well suited to meet large power demands. They give

better performance at higher load factors 736:56O8.

'aterials e>penditure on metal structures, piping, storage mechanisms are much

lower for a nuclear power plant than a coal burning power plant.

It does not reFuire large Fuantity of water.

The generation of electricity through nuclear energy reduces the amount of energy

generated from fossil fuels 7coal and oil8. ess use of fossil fuels means lowering

greenhouse gas emissions 7)(- and others8.

)urrently, fossil fuels are consumed faster than they are produced, so in the ne>t

future these resources may be reduced or the price may increase becoming

inaccessible for most of the population.

The production of electric energy is continuous. A nuclear power plant is generating

electricity for almost 56O of annual time. It reduces the price volatility of other

fuels such as petrol.

Disadvantages of Nuclear Power Plant

Initial cost of nuclear power plant is higher as compared to hydro or steam power

plant.



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Nuclear power plants are not well suited for varying load conditions.

2adioactive wastes if not disposed carefully may have bad effect on the health of

workers and other population.

'aintenance cost of the plant is high.

It reFuires highly trained personnel to handle nuclear power plants.

Nuclear power plants generate e>ternal dependence. Not many countries have

uranium mines and not all the countries have nuclear technology, so they have to

hire both things overseas3

Nuclear power plants are obpensive and takes a long time.

Nuclear accidents can spread radiation producing particles over a wide area, This

radiation harms the cells of the body which can make humans sick or even cause

death. Illness can appear or strike people years after they were e>posed to nuclear

radiation and genetic problems can occur too. A possible type of reactor disaster is

known as a meltdown. In a meltdown, the fission reaction of an atom goes out of

control, which leads to a nuclear e>plosion releasing great amounts of radioactive

particles into the environment. )hernobyl and ;ukushima are the worst nuclear

accidents to date causing many lives and leakage of radiation.

)hapter 5

)onclusionJ

Eidely used nuclear energy can be of great benefit for mankind. It can bridge the gap

caused by inadeFuate coal and oil supply. It should be used to as much e>tent as possible

to solve power problem. Eith further developments, it is likely that the cost of nuclear

power stations will be lowered and that they will soon be competitive. Eith the depletion

of fuel reserves and the Fuestion of transporting fuel over long distances, nuclear power


http://www.cyberphysics.co.uk/topics/nuclear/decommissioning.htmlhttp://www.cyberphysics.co.uk/topics/nuclear/decommissioning.htmlhttp://www.cyberphysics.co.uk/topics/nuclear/decommissioning.html


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stations are taking an important place in the development of the power potentials of the

nations of the world today in the conte>t of the changing pattern of power.

)hapter *6

2eferences An Introduction to Nuclear Power !eneration by )hristopher =. $remen,

)alifornia institute of technology Pasadena, )alifornia.

&afety of the Indian Pressuri9ed Eater 2eactors, Department of Atomic =nergy,

!overnment of India.

httpJKKnuclear:energy.netKadvantages:and:disadvantages:of:nuclear:energy.html

httpJKKen.wikipedia.orgKwikiKNuclearreaction

httpJKKen.wikipedia.orgKwikiKNuclearfission

httpJKKen.wikipedia.orgKwikiKNuclearpowerinIndia

httpJKKen.wikipedia.orgKwikiKNuclearreactor



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httpJKKen.wikipedia.orgKwikiKNuclearfission

httpJKKen.wikipedia.orgKwikiKNuclearpower

httpJKKen.wikipedia.orgKwikiKNuclearpowerplant

httpJKKwww.cyberphysics.co.ukKtopicsKnuclearKadvantagesdisadvantagesnuclear

power.htm

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nuclear power plant seminar report

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