Rodney Castle

Instructor: Flowers

Nuclear Power

PWRP 203-02
9/13/2014
Nuclear power development was born out of the weapons development of the Second World
War. Since then there have been many different reactor designs although 6 types have emerged
as the science used to produce commercial electricity around the world.
The Magnox reactor, named after the magnesium used to case the fuel uses fuel elements
consisting of fuel rods encased in Magnesium cans arranged in vertical channels and a core
constructed of graphite blocks ,additional channels containing control rods that are inserted or
withdrawn from the core to control the fission process, and heat output. The unit is cooled by
blowing carbon dioxide gas through the fuel cans to enhance heat transfer, and then the hot
gases are converted into steam in the steam generator.

In order to improve efficiency of the Magnox reactor; It was deemed necessary to increase
temperatures in order to obtain higher thermal efficiencies. This change required higher cooling
gas pressure and a change from magnesium to stainless steel cladding and a fuel change from
uranium metal to uranium dioxide fuel. Also a change in the proportion of U235 fuel was
needed. These changes resulted in the Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor.
The CANDU is a Canadian design reactor that is the only one to use heavy water
moderation. The fuel that is used is unenriched uranium dioxide loaded into horizontal zirconium
alloy tubes. The tubes are cooled by pumping heavy water at high-pressure through the
assembly, and then to a steam generator. Additional moderation is achieved by immersing the

zirconium tubes in a callandria containing more heavy water. Control is maintained by

withdrawing or inserting cadmium rods from the callandria.
When using greater levels of enriched U 235 it is possible to obtain greater levels of neutron
absorption in the core, and then ordinary water can be used as both a moderator and the
coolant. There are two commercial reactors based on this principle, the Pressurized Water
Reactor and the Boiling Water reactor. The most popular reactor in the world is the
Pressurized Water Reactor that uses enriched U235 uranium dioxide as its fuel, arranged in
zirconium alloy cans. The array of fuel pins are interspersed with movable control rods that are
held in a steel vessel that high-pressure water is pumped through as both a moderator and a
coolant and onto a steam generator.
In a second type of water-cooled and moderated reactor the steam generator is eliminated.
This type of reactors is called the Boiling Water Reactor, in this design the water within the
reactor is allowed to boil and thereby raises steam directly for electrical power generation.
Problems with this design are that it leads to some radioactive contamination of components
within the system, etc. the turbine. This arrangement may require additional shielding of these
components as well as the reactor.
The RBMK Reactor is a Russian design that uses water for cooling and graphite for
moderation. This design of reactor has been used widely in the former USSR, including the
Chernobyl plant. The design consists of a large graphite core containing around 1700 vertical
channels that are filled with uranium dioxide fuel. Heat is removed from the core by pumping
high-pressure water through the channels where it is allowed to boil and onto steam drums and
the turbine.
All of these reactor designs are fission reactors. There is another nuclear energy by way of
fusion. This energy is accomplished by fusing together nuclei of light elements. It is the energy

source of our sun and all the stars. Control fusion maybe the energy the future, but it currently is
a difficult process to achieve. For the reaction to occur; the temperatures created are in excess
of 1,000,000 and our current technology cannot contain it.

Source Information:
http://in.materials.drexel.edu/blogs/nuclear/attachment/13062.ashx