ME8792 - POWER PLANT ENGINEERING
UNIT 3: NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
PART A
1) List the function of control rods. (OR) What is the function of control rods in nuclear reactor?
[M/J 2017], [N/D 2015]
To control the rate of fission
To start the nuclear chain reaction when the reactor is started from cold.
To shut down the reactor under emergency condition.
To maintain the chain reaction at a steady state.
To prevent the melting of fuel rods.
2) How do you cater for safety of nuclear power plant? [N/D 2015]
Nuclear safety and security cover the actions taken to prevent nuclear and radiation accidents or to limit
their consequences. The main safety concern is the emission of uncontrolled radiation into the environment
which could cause harm to human both at the reactor site and off-site. The nuclear power industry has
improved the safety and performance of reactors and it has proposed new and safer reaction.
3) What are fast nuclear reactors? [M/J 2016]
The term fast breeder refers the types of configuration which can actually produce more fissionable fuel
than they use. FBR which use fast (i.e.: unmoderated) neutrons to breed fissile plutonium and possibly
higher transuranics from fertile uranium-238. The fast spectrum is flexible enough that it can also breed
fissile uranium-233 from thorium, if desired.
4) What is a CANDU type reactor? [M/J 2016], [N/D 2018]
The CANDU (Canada Deuterium Uranium) reactor is a Canadian pressurized heavy-water cooled and
moderated type reactor. The acronym refers to its deuterium oxide (heavy water) moderator and its use of
(originally, natural) uranium fuel(0.7% U235).
5) What is critical mass of nuclear fuel? [N/D 2016]
A critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction.
6) Why shielding in necessary in nuclear power plants? [N/D 2016]
Shielding is necessary to protect walls of the reactor vessel from radiation damage and it also protects the
operating personnel from exposure to radiation. Thick layers of lead concrete or steel are provided all
around the reactor. These layers absorb the gamma rays, neutrons etc.,
7) What is the function of pressurizer in PWR? [M/J 2017], [N/D 2018]
The pressure in the primary circuit should be high for boiling of water at high pressure. It enables the water
to carry more heat from the reactor. The pressurizing tank keeps the water at about 14MN/m 2 so that it will
not boil. An electric heating coil in the pressurizer boils the water to form the steam which is collected in
the dome. More steam is forced into the dome by boiling and its pressure rises. Then, it pressurizes the
entire circuit.
8) Define "electron volt" with reference to Nuclear power plants. [N/D 2017]
An electron volt is the kinetic energy gained by an electron or other simply charged particles when passing
through a voltage difference of 1 Volt in vacuum. 1 eV is equal to the energy of 1.602×10 -19 J.
9) Give typical examples for control rods. [N/D 2017]
Control rods are used in nuclear reactors to control the fission rate of uranium and/or plutonium. Their
compositions includes chemical elements such as boron, cadmium, silver, and/or indium, that are capable
of absorbing many neutrons (without themselves fissioning). These elements have different neutron
capture cross sections for neutrons of various energies.
10) List out the important components of a nuclear reactor. [M/J 2018]
Reactor core
Moderator
Control rods
Reflector
Cooling system]
Reactor vessel
Biological shielding.
11) What are breeder reactor? [M/J 2018]
A breeder reactor is a nuclear reactor that generates more fissile material than it consumes.[1] Breeder
reactors achieve this because their neutron economy is high enough to create more fissile fuel than they
use, by irradiation of a fertile material, such as uranium-238 or thorium-232 that is loaded into the reactor
along with fissile fuel.
12) What are thermal reactors? [N/D 2018-N]
Thermal reactors (the most common type of nuclear reactor) use slowed or thermal neutrons to keep up the
fission of their fuel. Almost all current reactors are of this type. These contain neutron moderator materials
that slow neutrons until their neutron temperature is thermalized, that is, until their kinetic energy
approaches the average kinetic energy of the surrounding particles. Thermal neutrons have a far higher
cross-section (probability) of fissioning the fissile nuclei uranium-235, plutonium-239, and plutonium-241,
and a relatively lower probability of neutron capture by uranium-238 (U-238) compared to the faster
neutrons that originally result from fission, allowing use of low-enriched uranium or even natural uranium
fuel. The moderator is often also the coolant, usually water under high pressure to increase the boiling
point. These are surrounded by a reactor vessel, instrumentation to monitor and control the reactor,
radiation shielding, and a containment building.
13) Why is pressurized heavy water reactor is preferred reactor in India? [N/D 2018-N]
India’s nuclear power program is currently based mainly on a series of PHWRs, some of which have been
separated from reactors meant to feed the country’s nuclear weapons programme and placed under
safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). PHWRs have been chosen because of
availability of fuel, indigenous technology and expertise, resources and the need for power generation
infrastructure.
14) What is breeding in nuclear reactor? [A/M 2019-N]
In fast breeder reactor, the process of producing energy to self sustain the nuclear fission chain reaction
without using moderator is known as breeding. Enriched Uranium (U 235) or Plutonium is used as fuels
which are surrounded by a thick blanket of fertile Uranium (U 238).
15) What is the purpose of reprocessing of nuclear waste? [A/M 2019-N]
Used nuclear fuel has long been reprocessed to extract fissile materials for recycling and
to reduce the volume of high-level wastes.
Recycling today is largely based on the conversion of fertile U-238 to fissile plutonium.
New reprocessing technologies are being developed to be deployed in conjunction with
fast neutron reactors which will burn all long-lived actinides, including all uranium and
plutonium, without separating them from one another.
A significant amount of plutonium recovered from used fuel is currently recycled into
MOX fuel; a small amount of recovered uranium is recycled so far.
