NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
Working & its Environmental Impact
INTRODUCTION
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station
in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor.
As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is
used to generate steam that drives a steam
turbine connected to a generator that produces
electricity.
As of 2022, the International Atomic Energy
Agency reported there were 439 nuclear power
reactors in operation in 32 countries around
the world with a total capacity accounting to 390
GW of electricity.
Nuclear plants are very often used for base load
since their operations, maintenance, and fuel
costs are at the lower
However, building a nuclear power plant often
spans five to ten years
Overall Scenario
In India, there are presently 22 reactors with a total capacity of 6780 MW in operation,
Recently one reactor, Kakrapar Atomic Power Station, Gujarat (KAPS) (700 MW) has been connected to the grid
on January 10, 2021.
In addition, there are 8 reactors (including 500 MW being implemented by BHAVINI) total of 6000 MW under
construction at various stages.
At present, there are nine (9) nuclear power reactors at various stages of construction, targeted for completion by
2024-25.
In addition, twelve (12) more nuclear power reactors have been accorded administrative approval and
financial sanction by the Government in June 2017.
Thus, twenty-one (21) nuclear power reactors, with an installed capacity of 15700 MW are under
implementation, envisaged for progressive completion by the year 2031.
- Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Department of Atomic Energy
03 JAN 2019
Present Scenario:
Upcoming Plants:
What is nuclear energy?
Power plants use heat to produce electricity. Nuclear
energy produces electricity from heat through a
process called fission. Nuclear power plants use the
heat produced by fission of certain atoms.
1. Nuclear fission
nucleus of atom is split into parts,
produces free neutrons and
energy
Nuclear Fuel: Uranium
92 2. Uranium-235
U
Fission of U-235 splits nucleus
Uranium
in two pieces
releases neutrons for chain
reaction
Nuclear fission chain
reaction releases energy in
The fuel used in the form of heat
nuclear power
plants is an
isotope of the Uranium-235 has 92 protons
radioactive and 143 neutrons
element uranium
Fission Chain Reaction
This is the process that allows reactors to exist:
o One free neutron causes one U-235 atom to fission
o That fission produces 2 or 3 new free neutrons
Nuclear Reactors
3. Nuclear Reactor device built to sustain
a controlled nuclear fission chain reaction
Main Components of Nuclear
Reactor:
- reactor vessel
- tubes of uranium
- control rods
- containment structure
Containment structure
contains the reaction in
at least 3 feet of
concrete!
control rods control
radioactivity, absorbs
neutrons
The Nuclear Power Plant
4. Nuclear power plant consists
of all the parts needed to create
electricity by using nuclear energy
1. Fission occurs 2. The heat is
in the reactor used to heat
vessel. Heat is water to create
produced. steam
3. The steam is
4. The steam is used to turn the
cooled in the turbine in the
condenser to generator to
return to the liquid produce electricity
phase.
A Fission Reactor
Control rod action
Simple concept: need exactly one excess neutron per fission event to find another 235
U
Inserting a neutron absorber into the core removes neutrons from the pool
Pulling out rod makes more neutrons available
Emergency procedure is to drop all control rods at once
Types of Nuclear Power Plant
1. Pressurized water reactor (PWR)
2. Boiling water reactor (BWR)
3. Advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR)
4. Light water graphite-moderated reactor (LWGR)
5. Fast neutron reactor (FNR)
6. Operable nuclear power plants
BOILING WATER REACTOR
PRESSURIZED WATER REACTOR
How Does a Nuclear Power Plant Work?
Boil Water!
1. Produce heat
2. Boil water into steam
3. Use steam to turn a turbine-generator
This is the same as a:
• Coal power plant
• Oil power plant
• Natural gas plant
• Solar thermal plant
Why Are We Interested In Nuclear Power?
There is a LOT of energy contained in atoms.
o Fissioning 1 gram of Uranium-235 produces
24,000 kW-hr of energy.
—This is the same as burning 3 tons of coal,
or 12 barrels of oil,
or 50,000 ft3 of natural gas
A Nuclear reaction, not a Chemical reaction
Why Nuclear Power?
Not burning anything – no exhaust.
We have lots of cheap nuclear fuel
Uranium comes from nicer places:
o Kazakhstan 45.14%
o Canada 9.1%
o Australia 8.67%
o China 3.90 %
o India 1.27%
o South Africa 0.80%
o USA 0.02%
It produces a lot of power – we need a lot of power
Environmental Impact by Using
Nuclear Energy :
Radioactive wastes such as uranium mill tailings, spent (used) reactor fuel, and
other radioactive wastes. These materials can remain radioactive and dangerous to
human health for thousands of years
Nuclear power plants produce no greenhouse gas emissions during operation, and over
the course of its life-cycle, nuclear produces about the same amount of carbon
dioxide-equivalent emissions per unit of electricity as wind, and one-third of the
emissions per unit of electricity when compared with solar.
Nuclear power reactors do not produce direct carbon dioxide emissions. Unlike
fossil fuel-fired power plants, nuclear reactors do not produce air pollution or carbon
dioxide while operating. However, the processes for mining and refining uranium ore
and making reactor fuel all require large amounts of energy.
The main environmental impact of nuclear power is related to building the plant, fuel
procurement and the thermal load of cooling water discharged into the sea during
operation
In terms of Carbon…
In India, 0.85 kg of CO2 emits per kWh of electricity.
Carbon Footprint: (Total GHG Emissions)
A typical 1,000-megawatt nuclear facility in the United States needs a little more
than 1 square mile to operate. Wind farms require 360 times more land area to
produce the same amount of electricity and solar photovoltaic plants require 75
times more space.
Carbon Emission:
No direct emissions
Carbon credits:
One credit permits the emission of a mass equal to one ton of carbon dioxide (CO2).
Nuclear vs Thermal (1000MWe)
Source Nuclear Power Plant Thermal Power Plant
Fuel Consumption 27 tonnes of Uranium per 26L tonnes of coal per year
year
Waste Production per year 27 tonnes of high level waste 65L tonnes of CO2
After processed 8 tonnes of 3L tonnes of Ash
waste for disposal
300 tonnes intermediate waste 20000 tonnes of SO2
450 tonnes low-level waste 4000 tonnes NOx
400 tonnes of heavy metals
Advantages of Nuclear Power
Nuclear power plants produces maximum power more than 92% of
the time during the year. That’s about nearly 2 times more as
natural gas and coal units, and almost 3 times or more reliable than
wind and solar plants.
High energy production from a small amount of fuel
Low greenhouse gas emissions (equivalent to zero emission) so it
doesn’t contribute to global warming or acid rain
Low pollution
Reliable 24/7
Cheaper than other energy sources except Hydroelectric
Disadvantages of Nuclear Power
Storage and disposal of hazardous wastes. The half‑life of 239 Pu
(the radioactive waste from nuclear power plants) is 24,000 years!
Proliferation (rapid growth) of nuclear materials
Potential terrorist applications
High startup costs and expenses to close down
Danger of meltdown
Nuclear Waste
Big Problem
Used (spent) nuclear fuel consists of ceramic pellets encased in
metal tubes
Current solution: On-site storage at NPPs
Each reactor has storage pool, meant as temporary holding place
- originally thought to be 150 days Yellowcake Powder
- 35 years and counting
Huge variety of radioactive products, with a whole range of half-
lives
1GW plant waste is 70 MCi after one year; 14 MCi after 10
years; 1.4 MCi after 100 years; 0.002 MCi after 100,000 years
1 Ci (Curie) is 37 billion radioactive decays per second
Processed Nuclear
Waste
Nuclear Waste Disposal
DRY STORAGE IN CASKS ON SITE
Although nuclear power is not a
renewable energy, it is still
recyclable. Thanks to Orano's
technologies, unique in the world on an
industrial scale, 96% of spent
nuclear fuel in reactors is recyclable
(95% uranium and 1% plutonium).
mixed oxide fuel (MOX), an
assembly produced from recycled
spent fuel, has already been used to
supply 44 reactors around the world.
Yucca Mountain Project: Nuclear Fuel and
High Level Waste Repository
The Yucca Mountain
Nuclear Waste Repository,
as designated by the
Nuclear Waste Policy Act
amendments of 1987, is a
proposed deep geological
repository storage facility
within Yucca Mountain for
spent nuclear fuel and
other high-level radioactive
waste in the United
States.
Three Major Nuclear Disasters
Three Mile Island- Harrisburg, PA (Accident, 1979)
Chernobyl – Russia (Accident, 1983)
Fukushima- Japan (Accident, 2011)
Three Mile Island Accident, March 28, 1979
Pennsylvania, USA
29
The Three-Mile Island Accident, 1979
The worst nuclear reactor accident in U.S. history
Loss-of-cooling accident in six-month-old plant
Combination of human and mechanical errors
Severe damage to core
but containment vessel held
No major release of radioactive material to environment
Less than 1 mrem to nearby population
less than 100 mrem to on-site personnel
compare to 300 mrem yearly dose from natural environment
Instilled fear in American public, fueled by movies like The China Syndrome
Spring 2013
Chernobyl Disaster, April 26, 1986
Largest nuclear disaster in history. (Ukraine)
31 The Chernobyl Disaster
Blatant disregard for safety plus inherently unstable design spelled disaster
Chernobyl was a boiling-water, graphite-moderated design
unlike any in the U.S.
used for 239Pu weapons production
frequent exchange of rods to harvest Pu meant lack of containment vessel like the ones in U.S.
positive-feedback built in: gets too hot, it runs hotter: runaway possible
once runaway initiated, control rods not effective
Spring 2013
32
Chernobyl, continued
On April 25, 1986, operators decided to do an “experiment” as the reactor was powering down for
routine maintenance
disabled emergency cooling system
blatant violation of safety rules
withdrew control rods completely
powered off cooling pumps
reactor went out of control, caused steam explosion that ripped open the reactor
many fires, exposed core, major radioactive release
Spring 2013
33
Chernobyl after-effects
Total of 100 million people exposed (135,000 lived within 30 km) to radioactivity much above
natural levels
Expect from 25,000 to 50,000 cancer deaths as a result
compared to 20 million total worldwide from other causes
20,000,000 becomes 20,050,000 (hard to notice…
…unless you’re one of those 50,000
31 died from acute radiation exposure at site
200 got acute radiation sickness
Spring 2013
Fukushima Nuclear Disaster March 11, 2013
Nuclear disaster occurred as a result of an 8.0 earthquake and
tsunami.
35 Fukushima Accident
Sendai earthquake in March 2011 caused reactors to shut down
Generators activated to maintain cooling flow during few-day shutdown process
Tsunami ruined this plan, flooding generator rooms and causing them to fail
all three operational cores melted down, creating hydrogen gas explosions
Designed by GE and operated by high-tech society, this is troubling failure
can happen to the best
Spring 2013
What is radiation?
Radiation is moving particles / waves
We experience radiation as light and heat
Is Radiation Dangerous?
If it has enough energy radiation can
o Heat things up
o Move electrons
o Move atoms
This can damage cells, DNA, materials
But, you get lots of radiation every day:
o Radon 55%
o Cosmic & Earth 16%
o What you eat 11%
o Medical exams 15%
o Everything else 3%
Fusion Power!
Fusion could produce even more power with less
fuel
But it is very hard
Still ~30 years away
Thank You!
Questions?
