CONTROL AND DYNAMIC SYSTEMS: AERONAUTICAL SYSTEMS

By C. CAINY

CONTENTS SECTION I INTRODUCTION NUCLEAR POWER REACTORS 1 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR POWER 3 2 PRESSURIZED WATER REACTORS 11 3 BOILING WATER REACTORS 85 4 HEAVY WATER REACTORS 141 5 HIGH TEMPERATURE GAS COOLED THERMAL REACTORS 199 6 INTEGRATED FAST REACTOR PRISM 229 7 MSR TECHNOLOGY BASICS 257 8 SMALL MODULAR REACTORS 289 9 GENERATION IV TECHNOLOGIES 299 SECTION II INTRODUCTION NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 10 NUCLEAR FUEL RESOURCES 317 11 URANIUM ENRICHMENT 335 12 NUCLEAR FUEL FABRICATION 351 13 SPENT FUEL STORAGE 365 14 NUCLEAR FUEL RECYCLING 387 15 HWR FUEL CYCLES 471 16 WASTE DISPOSAL TRANSURANIC WASTE HIGH LEVEL WASTE AND SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL AND LOW LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE 521 17 RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS TRANSPORTATION 557 18 DECONTAMINATION AND DECOMMISSIONING 589 SECTION I INTRODUCTION NUCLEAR POWER REACTORS THIS SECTION INCLUDES A BRIEF EARLY HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR POWER PRIMARILY IN THE UNITED STATES INDIVIDUAL CHAPTERS COVER THE PRESSURIZED WATER REACTOR PWR BOIL ING WATER REACTOR BWR AND THE CANDU REACTOR THESE THREE REACTOR TYPES ARE USED IN NUCLEAR POWER STATIONS IN NORTH AMERICA AND REPRESENT MORE THAN 90 OF REACTORS WORLDWIDE FURTHER THIS SECTION INCLUDES A CHAPTER DESCRIBING THE GAS COOLED REACTOR LIQ UID METAL COOLED FAST REACTOR THE MOLTEN SALT REACTOR AND SMALL MODULAR REACTORS AND CON CLUDES WITH A DISCUSSION OF THE NEXT GENERATION OF REACTORS KNOWN AS GEN IV THE NUMBER OF REACTOR CONCEPTS THAT MADE IT PAST THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT R D STAGE TO THE DEMONSTRATION STAGE IS AMAZING THIS WORK WAS DONE PRIMARILY IN THE 1950S AND EARLY 1960S IDEAS WERE RESEARCHED AND SMALL RESEARCH SIZE REACTORS WERE BUILT AND OPERATED THEY WERE OFTEN FOLLOWED BY DEMONSTRATION POWER PLANTS REACTOR DEVELOPMENT EXPANDED RAPIDLY DURING THE 1970S NUCLEAR POWER STATIONS WERE BEING BUILT ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES AND IN EASTERN CANADA ON THE MORNING OF MARCH 28 1979 AN ACCIDENT OCCURRED AT THREE MILE ISLAND UNIT 2 HARRISBURG PENNSYLVANIA THAT LED TO A PARTIAL CORE MELTDOWN ALL CONSTRUCTION ON NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS IN THE UNITED STATES HALTED THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INFLATION IN THE UNITED STATES ECONOMY DURING THIS PERIOD THE IMPACT OF THE ACCIDENT WAS TO INCREASE THE NEED TO SIGNIFICANTLY MODIFY REAC TORS IN SERVICE AS WELL AS THOSE UNDER CONSTRUCTION FOR THE LATTER THIS LED TO SIGNIFICANT COST IMPACTS BECAUSE OF THE CHANGES AND THE INFLATIONARY ECONOMY MANY REACTOR ORDERS WERE CANCELED AND PLANTS ALREADY UNDER CONSTRUCTION WERE ABANDONED OR MOTHBALLED THE PUBLIC TURNED AGAINST NUCLEAR POWER AS A SOURCE OF ENERGY TO PROVIDE ELECTRICITY THERE HAS BEEN RENEWED INTEREST IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF NEW NUCLEAR POWER STATIONS BECAUSE OF INCREASING CONCERN OVER THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF EXHAUST FUMES FROM FOSSIL FUELED 1 POWER STATIONS AND THE DESIRE TO LIMIT RELEASE OF THESE MATERIALS THE WATTS BAR UNIT 2 PLANT STARTED IN THE 1980S BY TVA AND MOTHBALLED AT 60 COMPLETION STAGE HAS BEEN COM PLETED WITH FULL POWER OPERATION EXPECTED IN 2016 THE WATTS BAR PLANT IS LOCATED ON THE TENNESSEE RIVER SOUTH OF KNOXVILLE TENNESSEE NEW PLANTS ARE BEING ORDERED IN COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD THE PWR BWR AND CANDU CHAPTERS IN THIS SECTION ADDRESS CUR RENTLY OPERATING PLANTS AND THE NEXT GENERATION PLANTS BEING LICENSED AND BUILT TODAY IN THE UNITED STATES FOUR AP 1000 REACTORS ARE UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN THE STATES OF GEORGIA AND NORTH CAROLINA THE CHAPTER ON HIGH TEMPERATURE GAS COOLED REACTOR HTGR PLANTS IS FORWARD LOOKING AND ADDRESSES NOT ONLY ELECTRICITY GENERATION BUT ALSO THE PRODUCTION OF HIGH TEMPERATURE HEAT FOR MATERIAL PROCESSING APPLICATIONS THE CHAPTERS ON THE LIQUID METAL COOLED FAST REACTOR AND THE MOLTEN SALT REACTOR ARE STEPS TOWARD ADVANCED DESIGNS THAT CAN UTILIZE PLUTONIUM FROM THE REPROCESSING OF LIGHT WATER REACTOR FUEL AND IN THE CASE OF THE MOLTEN SALT REACTOR CAN USE THORIUM THESE REACTORS ALSO OPERATE AT LOW PRESSURE AND CAN BE SHUT DOWN IN AN EMERGENCY AND ALLOWED TO COOL EVEN WITHOUT EMERGENCY COOLING SYSTEMS THE CONCEPT OF SMALL MODULAR REACTORS IS ALSO INTRODUCED THESE WILL ALLOW LOWER ECONOMIC INVESTMENT AND ALSO INCLUDE PASSIVE SAFETY SYSTEMS FINALLY THE GENERATION IV CHAPTER LOOKS AT THE REACTORS BEING INVESTIGATED AS FUTURE SOURCES OF POWER FOR ELECTRICITY GENERATION ON A HISTORICAL NOTE IT IS INTERESTING TO OBSERVE THAT SEVERAL OF THE PROPOSED CONCEPTS WERE INVESTIGATED DURING THE 1950S AND 1960S 2 1 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR POWER IN THE UNITED STATES THE DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR REACTORS FOR NUCLEAR POWER PRODUCTION BEGAN AFTER WORLD WAR II ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ATOMIC BOMB COULD SEE THAT THE NUCLEAR REACTOR WOULD PROVIDE AN EXCELLENT SOURCE OF HEAT FOR PRODUCTION OF STEAM THAT COULD BE USED FOR ELECTRICITY GENERATION WORK BEGAN AT ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY ANL LEMONT ILLINOIS AND AT OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY TENNESSEE ON VARIOUS RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION REACTOR PROJECTS THE DIRECTOR OF ANL WALTER ZINN FELT THAT EXPERIMENTAL REACTORS SHOULD BE BUILT IN A MORE REMOTE AREA OF THE COUNTRY SO A SITE WAS SELECTED IN IDAHO THIS SITE BECAME KNOWN AS THE NATIONAL REACTOR TESTING STATION NRTS AND THE ARGONNE PORTION WAS KNOWN AS ANL W THE FIRST REACTOR PROJECT AT NRTS WAS THE EXPERIMENTAL BREEDER REACTOR I EBR I CONSTRUCTION OF THE REACTOR BEGAN IN 1949 AND WAS COMPLETED IN 1951 ON DECEMBER 20 1951 A RESISTANCE LOAD WAS CONNECTED TO THE REACTOR S GENERATOR AND ABOUT 45 KW OF ELEC TRICITY GENERATED THIS MARKED THE FIRST GENERATION OF ELECTRICITY FROM A NUCLEAR REACTOR THE REACTOR COULD GENERATE SUFFICIENT ELECTRICITY TO SUPPLY THE POWER NEEDED FOR OPERATION OF THE FACILITY IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE FIRST ELECTRICITY WAS GENERATED BY A SODIUM COOLED FAST BREEDER REACTOR IN 1953 US PRESIDENT DWIGHT D EISENHOWER ADDRESSED THE UNITED NATIONS AND GAVE HIS FAMOUS ATOMS FOR PEACE SPEECH WHERE HE PLEDGED THAT THE UNITED STATES WOULD FIND THE WAY BY WHICH THE MIRACULOUS INVENTIVENESS OF MAN SHALL NOT BE DEDICATED TO HIS DEATH BUT CONSECRATED TO HIS LIFE HE SIGNED THE 1954 ATOMIC ENERGY ACT WHICH FOS TERED THE COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR ENERGY BY THE ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION AND PRIVATE INDUSTRY THIS MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAM IN THE UNITED STATES 1 1 EARLY POWER AND EXPERIMENTAL REACTORS 4 1 1 1 BWR POWER PLANTS 4 1 1 2 PWR POWER PLANTS 5 1 1 3 GAS COOLED REACTOR POWER PLANTS 5 1 1 4 ORGANIC COOLED AND MODERATED REACTORS 5 1 1 5 LIQUID METAL COOLED REACTORS 5 1 1 6 FLUID FUELED REACTORS 6 1 2 CURRENT POWER REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES 6 REFERENCE 9 3