EE-411

EE-411
 Nuclear Power Stations - Introduction, Nuclear Reaction, Main Parts of
Nuclear Power Stations, Plant Layouts, Principle of Nuclear Energy,
Nuclear reactor and reactor control, Types of Power Reactor,
Comparison of various types of reactor, Economics of Nuclear Power
Stations.
 Thepower engineers must be concerns with the three
“Es” – Energy, Economy, and Ecology.

 Thus the modern power engineers must try to develop

systems that produce large quantities of energy at low
cost with minimal impact on environment.

 Thepower proper balancing of these three ‘Es” is a

major technological challenge.
 Itis interesting to examine the consequence of a quantity that
is constantly increasing, whether it is energy consumption,
population, gross national product, or personal income, etc.

 Ifa quantity such as power P increases at the same fractional

rate I each year then the rate of change of the quantity with
time becomes
dP
 iP
dt
 When t=o, power= Po
 
p t
dP
  idt When t=t, power =P
po P o

P
ln  it
Po
P
 eit
Po
P  Po eit (1)
 If td is the time required for the power to increase by a factor of
2. This time td is called the “Doubling Time”.
 i.e. at t=td, P=2Po and we have

2 Po  Po eitd

ln 2  itd
ln 2
td 
i
0.693 Where i=growth rate
td 
i
Example: The increase in electrical power consumption
in the United States has been averaged about 7% per year.
Hence,
0.693
td   9.9 10 years
0.07

Therefore, we can say that electrical energy consumption

is doubled after energy 10 year (or one decade)
 The total energy consumed during a given period of time can be found
by integrating equation (1), over the time interval. Let E1 be the total
energy consumed between t=t1 and t=t2, then
t  t2

 
t2
E1  Pdt  Po eit dt
t  t1 t1
Po  it2 it1 
E1  e  e
i  
Po it1  i  t2  t1  
E1  e e  1
i  
 This equation gives the expression for the total energy consumed
between the time interval t1 to t2.
 Using the 1970 value of U.S. energy consumption rate of
70.8*1018 J / year and assuming a 4% growth rate per year.

a) Find the doubling time and estimate the energy consumption

rate in the year 2000.
21
b) If the U.S. coal reserves are of 70.8 *10 J , estimate how
long the coal would last as the energy source, if it supplies
all the fuel energy.
 Given that i=0.04 per year, , t=30 years
 Doubling time=td= Po  70.8*10 J / year
18

ln 2
td 
i
0.693
td   17.33 years
0.04
 Power at year 2000= P  Po e it

P  70.8 *1018 e0.04*30

P  235.1*10 J / Year
18
 18
 In this case i=0.04 per year, P0= 70.8*10 J / year
t1=0, E1= 70 *10 J , t2=?
21


Po it1  i t2 t1  

E1  e e  1
i  
70.8 *1018  0.04  t2  0 
E1  *1  e  1
0.04  
70.8 *1018  0.04  t2  0 
*1  e  1  70 *10 21 J
0.04  
 t2=92.56 years
Working Principle:
 A generating station in which nuclear energy is converted into
electrical is known as a nuclear power station

OR

 A nuclear power plant works in a similar way as a thermal

power plant. The difference between the two is in the fuel they
use to heat the water in the boiler(steam generator).
 Inside a nuclear power station, energy is released by nuclear
fission in the core of the reactor.

 1 kg of Uranium U235 can produce as much energy as the

burning of 4500 tones of high grade variety of coal or 2000
tones of oil.
 The amount of fuel required is quite small. Therefore,
there is a considerable saving cost of fuel transportation.

 A nuclearpower plant requires less space as compared to

any other type of the same size.

 It
has low running charges as a small amount of fuel is
used for producing bulk electrical energy.
 Thistype of plant is very economical for producing
bulk electrical power.

 It
can be located near the load centers because it does
not require large quantities of water and need not be
near coal mine.

 Therefore, the cost of primary distribution is reduced.

 There are large deposits of nuclear fuel available all
over the world.

 Therefore, such plants can ensure continued supply

of electrical energy for thousands of years.

 It ensures reliability of operation

 The fuel used is expensive and is difficult to recover
 The capital cost on a nuclear plant is very high as
compared to other types of plants
 The erection and commissioning of the plant requires
greater technical know-how
 The fission by-products are generally radioactive and
may cause a dangerous amount of radioactive pollution.
 Maintenancecharges are high due to lack of standardization.
Moreover, high salaries of specially trained personnel
employed to handle the plant further raise the cost.

 Nuclear power plants are not well suited for varying loads as
the reactor does not respond to the fluctuations efficiently.

 The disposal of the by-product, which are radioactive, is a big

problem. They have either to be disposed off in a deep trench
or in a sea away from sea-shore.