Nuclear Power

Nuclear PowerA Presentation By Mohd FaizKali Charan Nigam Institute of Technology Banda UP

What is nuclear power?

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.

Nuclear Fusion and FissionNuclear FusionSmall nuclei into largeImmense temperature and pressureCore of starsNuclear FissionLarge nuclei into smallCritical mass to sustainTwo isotopes we use

Iron is the dead end of both fusion and fission it is the lowest energy nucleus and cannot be split or fused.

Nuclear FissionNuclear fission is the process of splitting a nucleus into two nuclei with smaller masses.Fission means to divideRemember that fission has 2 ss, therefore it splits into TWO parts.Only large nuclei with atomic numbers above 90 can undergo fission.Products of fission reaction usually include two or three individual neutrons, the total mass of the product is somewhat less than the mass of Uranium-235.

Chain ReactionA chain reaction is an ongoing series of fission reactions. Billions of reactions occur each second in a chain reaction.On earth, nuclear fission reactions take place in nuclear reactors, which use controlled chain reactions to generate electricity

Chain Reaction cont.Uncontrolled chain reactions take place during the explosion of an atomic bomb.

photo taken at ground level of Nagasaki bombing.

Fission Products

The products of nuclear fission reactions are radioactive, but the energy released from these reactions is less harmful to the environment than the use of fossil fuels.The products are intensely radioactive and must be treated and/or stored

Nuclear EnergyElectricity was generated for the first time by a nuclear reactor on December 20, 1951, at theEBR-I experimental station nearArco, Idaho, which initially produced about 100kW (the Arco Reactor was also the first to experience partial meltdown, in 1955).

World Nuclear Power Plants

The Role of Nuclear Energy in India

Approximately : 1,20,000 MW

How a Nuclear Reactor works 235U fissions by absorbing a neutron and producing 2 to 3 neutrons, which initiate on average one more fission to make a controlled chain reactionNormal water is used as a moderator to slow the neutrons since slow neutrons take longer to pass by a U nucleus and have more time to be absorbedThe protons in the hydrogen in the water have the same mass as the neutron and stop them by a billiard ball effectThe extra neutrons are taken up by protons to form deuterons235U is enriched from its 0.7% in nature to about 3% to produce the reaction, and is contained in rods in the waterBoron control rods are inserted to absorb neutrons when it is time to shut down the reactorThe hot water is boiled or sent through a heat exchanger to produce steam. The steam then powers turbines.

Working of reactor

Requirement of natural uranium for a 1000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant: ~ 160 t /Year.Requirement of coal for a 1000 MWe Coal fired plant ~ 2.6 million t / Year (i.e. 5 trains of 1400 t /Day)

Energy scenario in India At the present growth rate, Indian economy will double every eight years

Growing population

Reaching well above per capita world average consumption Nuclear energy is to meet 25% to 50% of the total energy requirementNuclear capacity will reach 20 Gwe and more by 2020 200 Gwe and above generation capacity is targeted by the middle of the century

Known reserves of uranium are found in relatively stable industrialised countries (Australia 23%), Kazakhstan (15%), Russia (10%), Canada (8%), South Africa (8%) the USA (6%).

Uranium: A Sustainable Energy Source?

Nuclear Power EconomicsNuclear power plants are very expensive to build relative to all other forms of electricity production, with a Front-loaded cost structure (high initial investment then relatively low running cost)

A recent MIT report argues that:

The track record for the construction costs of nuclear plants completed in the USA during the 1980s and early 1990s was poor. Actual costs were far higher than had been projected . . . The first few US plants will be a critical test for all parties involved.

There is no power as costly as no-power Homi Bhabha

'The ice is melting much faster than we thought'

Even if they (opponents of nuclear energy) were right about its dangers, and they are not, its worldwide use as our main source of energy would pose an insignificant threat compared with the dangers of intolerable and lethal heat waves and sea levels rising to drown every coastal city of the world. We have no time to experiment with visionary energy sources; civilisation is in imminent danger and has to use nuclear - the one safe, available, energy source - now or suffer the pain soon to be inflicted by our outraged planet.Eminent Environmental Scientist, James Lovelock, The Independent, May 24, 2004

Perspective of a country on nuclear energy depends on domestic realities

In general, the perspective of a country on nuclear energy and degree of public acceptance could depend on where you are on these curves, on the availability of fossil and hydro resources, and on technological development capacity.

- R. Chidambaram, 2003

Current status of the Indian nuclear power programs

Stage - I PHWRs13- Operating 5 - Under construction Several others planned POTENTIAL 10 GWe

LWRs 2 BWRs- Operating 2 VVERs- Under construction

Stage II FBRs

40 MWth FBTR- Oper. 500 MWe PFBR- Under construction POTENTIAL 350 GWe

Stage - III Thorium Based Reactors

30 kWth KAMINI- Oper. 300 MWe AHWR-Under developmentCHTR Under design. POWER POTENTIAL Very Large. Availability of ADS can enable early introduction of Thorium on a large scale.

Nuclear Plant FutureThe countries of the world are each planning their own course of nuclear plant development or declineNuclear power is competitive with natural gas It is non-pollutingIt does not contribute to global warmingObtaining the fuel only takes 5% of the energy outputPlant licenses have been extended from 20 years to an additional 20 years

Nuclear Plant FutureNewer designs are being sought to make them more economical and saferPreapproval of a few designs will hasten developmentDisposal of high level radioactive waste still being studied, but scientists believe deep burial would workBecause they are have large electrical output, their cost at $2 billion is hard to obtain and guarantee with banksReplacing plants may be cheaper using the same sites and containment vessels

Nuclear SafetyDuring the fifty years that commercial power plants have operated worldwide, there have been three serious accidents.

All the serious reactor incidents (Windscale, Chernobyl, Fukushima) involved human error.

The safety record of existing nuclear reactors has improved over time as safety regulations have been upgraded.

Fukushima

Fukushima: Consequences

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Power Generation in India

Sheet1Nuclear2Hydro25Renewable3Coal70

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Power Generation in India

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