UME1604
POWER PLANT ENGINEERING
Unit 2 Lecture 1
Dr. B. Jayakishan
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
SSN College of Engineering
Session Meta Data
Author
Dr. B. Jayakishan
Reviewer
2
Version Number
2.0
Release Date
04.02.2023
Revision History
S. No.
3
Revision
Date
1
-
2
04-02-2023
Details
Version no.
New content
1.0
Revised according to syllabus
2.0
Evaluation Criteria in line with the cognitive
level
Cognitive Level
4
Cognitive skill description
Evaluation
1
Remember
Yes
2
Understand
Yes
3
Apply
Yes
4
Analyze
No
5
Evaluate
No
6
Create
No
Nuclear Power Today
• Provides almost 20% of world’s electricity
• More than 100 plants in U.S.
– None built since the 1970s
• 200+ plants in the Europe
– Leader is France
• About 80% of its power from nuclear
5
It all began with radioactivity…
– Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity in 1896
• Becquerel named the emission of invisible
radiation from uranium ore radioactivity.
• Radioactive materials was the name given
to materials that gave off this invisible
radiation.
6
• Radioactivity was discovered by Henri Becquerel when he
exposed a light-tight photographic plate to a radioactive mineral,
then developed the plate. (A) A photographic film is exposed to an
uranite ore sample. (B) The film, developed normally after a fourday exposure to uranite. Becquerel found an image like this one
and deduced that the mineral gave off invisible radiation that he
called radioactivity.
7
Nuclear Physics
• After radioactivity came the discovery of the electron by J. J.
Thomson in 1897 which was an indication that the atom had an
internal structure and the electron has a mass that is approximately
1/1836 that of the proton
• In the years that followed, radioactivity was extensively investigated,
notably by Marie Curie, Pierre Curie, Ernest Rutherford and others.
• Using techniques she invented for isolating radioactive isotopes,
Marie Curie won the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery
of two elements, polonium and radium.
• Pierre Curie studied ferromagnetism, paramagnetism, and
diamagnetism for his doctoral thesis, and discovered the effect of
temperature on paramagnetism which is now known as Curie's law.
The Curie temperature is used to study plate tectonics, treat
hypothermia, measure caffeine, and to understand extraterrestrial
magnetic fields.
8
Nuclear Physics
• In 1905, Albert Einstein formulated the idea of mass–
energy equivalence. While the work on radioactivity by
Becquerel and Marie Curie predates this, an explanation
of the source of the energy of radioactivity would have to
wait for the discovery that the nucleus itself was
composed of smaller constituents, the nucleons.
• In 1932, physicist Ernest Rutherford discovered that
when lithium atoms were "split" by protons from a proton
accelerator, immense amounts of energy were released
in accordance with the principle of mass–energy
equivalence.
9
Nuclear Physics
• Rutherford later discovered that there were three kinds
of radioactivity.
• Alpha particles () is a helium nucleus (2 protons
and 2 neutrons)
• A beta particle () is a high energy electron
• A gamma ray () is electromagnetic radiation with
a very short wavelength.
• The same year, Rutherford's doctoral student James
Chadwick discovered the neutron, which was
immediately recognized as a potential tool for nuclear
experimentation because of its lack of an electric charge.
10
Nuclear Physics
• Further work by Enrico Fermi in the 1930s focused on
using slow neutrons to increase the effectiveness of
induced radioactivity. Experiments bombarding uranium
with neutrons led Fermi to believe he had created a new
transuranic element, which was dubbed hesperium.
• But, in 1938, German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz
Strassmann conducted experiments with the products of
neutron-bombarded uranium, as a means of further
investigating Fermi's claims. They determined that the
relatively tiny neutron split the nucleus of the massive
uranium atoms into two roughly equal pieces,
contradicting Fermi. This process dubbed "fission"
involved a complete rupture of the nucleus.
11
Nuclear Physics
• Numerous scientists, including Leó Szilárd, who was one
of the first, recognized that if fission reactions released
additional neutrons, a self-sustaining nuclear chain
reaction could result. Once this was experimentally
confirmed and announced by Frédéric Joliot-Curie in
1939, scientists in many countries petitioned for support
of nuclear fission research, just on the cusp of World
War II, for the development of a nuclear weapon.
12
Early History of Nuclear
Power in the U.S.
Manhattan Project
• Secret government project to create atomic weapons during
World War II
• After the war, the government encouraged “the development
of nuclear energy for peaceful civilian purposes.”
• This led to the technology used in nuclear plants today
14
The First Nuclear Test
Trinity Nuclear Test
• The research on atom bomb
was called Manhattan project
• Los Alamos National
Laboratory and Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory
were the two laboratories in
the United States where work
towards the design of nuclear
weapons have been
undertaken.
• The first nuclear test was
located near Alamogordo, New
Mexico, under code name
“Trinity” on July 16, 1945
15
HIROSHIMA - Summary of events..
• An atomic bomb, called Little Boy, was
dropped on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945.
•• More than half of the buildings in the
city weredestroyed.
• It was estimated that about 70,000
people were killed instantly.
•• And by 1946, about 140,000 had died due
to injuries and radiation.
•
•
16
R e a s o n s for B o m b i n g i n Hi ros hi m a & N a g a s a k i …
• Many historians believe that a
main reason for the use of the
bomb was retaliation for the
surprise and brutal attack on
Pearl Harbor.
• United states came with a new
tactic to force Japan to surrender
– By Potsdam Declaration.
• Potsdam Declaration
• Truman’s First attempt at
negotiating with Japan
• Called for Japan’s unconditional
surrender and an end to Militarism
in Japan. Issued on July 26.
17
Reasons for Bombing in Hiroshima & Nagasaki… (Cont.)
• Japan refused the
Declaration.
• The USA did not want
to invade Japan.
• They reasoned that
using an Atomicbomb would deliver a
huge blow to Japan.
• This would save the
lives of hundreds of
thousands of
American troops.
18
Harry Trauman
The U.S. President
Potsdam Declaration
Fat Man and Little Boy…
Pi ctures – Hi ros hi m a Af ter
Blast..
Abridge across the Ota river. Note where
roadway is burned and the ghostly shadow
imprints left where the surface was shielded
by cement pillars.
AView of ground zero in Hiroshima on
August 6, 1945
20
21
View of Hiroshima after blast
Next
Target..
• Bockscar a B-29 bomber
Superfortress, flown by
Major Charles W. Sweeney
dropped the “Fat Man” on
August 9, 1945.
• Sometimes called Bock’s
car.
• The Bockscar did didn't
have enough fuel to return
to Tinian or Iwo Jima, so
Major Sweeney flew the
aircraft to Okinawa for an
emergency landing with
practically dry fuel tanks.
22
Bockscar With its crew
N ag as ak i
– Before and After..
Nagasaki before the bombing.
Nagasaki after the bombing
23
N ag as ak i
Before
24
– Before and After..
After
Fi n al l y …
• Japanese
Foreign
Minister
Shigenori Togo,
proposed
acceptance of
the Potsdam
Declaration.
Japan Emperor
• The
Emperor
Hirohito
convened
an
Imperial
Conference and at noon on
August 15, 1945, announced
Japan's surrender.
• On Sept. 2, 1945, Japanese
Foreign
Minister Shigenori
formally signed the surrender
documents on board the USS
Missouri.
25
Signing of
Document
• In 1905 Albert Einstein discovered that
a large amount of energy could be
released from a small amount of matter.
• However Bombs were not in his
mind because even he
considered himself a pacifist.
• The first letter Einstein stated
that Germany is pursuing the
interest of an A bomb and we
should do the same.
• Einstein felt very guilty for what he
caused after he saw the destruction of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
26
Albert Einstein
Origins
• After World War II,
development of
civilian nuclear
program
• Atlantic Energy Act
of 1946
• 1954: first
commercial nuclear
power program
27
Early Beginnings
• Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) established by US Congress in
1946 as part of the Atomic Energy Act
• AEC authorized the construction of Experimental Breeder Reactor I
( EBR-1) at a site in Idaho in 1949
• in August of 1951, criticality (a controlled, self-sustained, chain
reaction) was reached using uranium
• A football sized core was created and kept at low power for four
months until December 20, 1951
28
• Power was gradually increased until the first usable amount of
electricity was generated, lighting four light bulbs and introducing
nuclear generated power for the first time
• In 1953, the EBR-1 was creating one new atom of nuclear fuel for
every atom burned, thus the reactor could sustain its own operation
• With this creation of new cores, enough energy was created to fuel
additional reactors
• A few years later, the town of arco, idaho became the world's first
community to get its entire power supply from a nuclear reactor
• This was achieved by temporarily attaching the town’s power grid to
the reactor’s turbines
29
Atoms for Peace
• Began in 1953 and was designed by Eisenhower specifically to
promote peaceful, commercial applications of atomic energy after
the Manhattan Project and atomic bombings on Japan
• Public support for nuclear energy grew, federal nuclear energy
programs shifted their focus to advancing reactor technologies
• With this came the support of utility companies, which saw nuclear
energy as a cheap and environmentally safe alternative energy
choice
30
Shipping-Port Atomic
Power Station
31
•
Department of energy and the duquesne light company broke ground in
shippingport, pennsylvania in 1954 for the first commercial electricgenerating station in the u.S. To use nuclear energy
•
Opened on may 26, 1958, as part of eisenhower’s “atoms for peace”
program
•
Three years later, it began supplying electricity for the pittsburgh area
•
It was by far the world’s largest commercial nuclear power plant, surpassing
those already in place in the soviet union and great britain
Nuclear Materials - From Where Does It Come?
• Australia has 30% of the world’s uranium
below its topsoil, and it is all for export.
• Canada (mostly
Saskatchewan) is the
next largest source.
• The True North, strong
and free, has 20% of
the world’s supply.
32
Nuclear Governance in the U.S.
• Energy Reorganization Act of 1974
– Created NRC and DoE
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission
– Regulates reactors; use of nuclear materials;
movement, storage, and disposal of nuclear materials
and waste
• Department of Energy
– Oversight of nuclear weapons; public relations side of
nuclear energy
33
Int’l Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
• Part of U.N.
– Oversees global energy security, scientific
concerns
• Origin
– Eisenhower’s “Atoms for
Peace”
– Formed in 1957
– Promote peaceful
nuclear use
34
Major Problems of Nuclear Energy:
•
•
•
•
35
Cost
Safety
Waste Disposal
Proliferation
Cost
• More expensive than coal and natural gas, but
could be made cheaper with carbon credits
• New nuclear plants could generate power at
$31-$46/MWh
• It would take 3-4 new plants to absorb the early
costs of these new plants
36
Safety
• Public remains wary of nuclear power due to
Chernobyl and three mile island accidents
• Nuclear plants vulnerable to terrorist attacks
• Safer, more efficient, and more secure plants
planned for the future
37
Three Mile Isle
38
March 28, 1979, 4:00 am
• Secondary cooling loop stops pumping.
• Rising temperatures caused emergency valve to open
to release pressure, but indicator light malfunctioned
• Due to loss of steam, water level drops, water
overheats and burns out pump
• Reactor core overheats and begins to melt (a
“meltdown”)
39
March 28, 1979, 6:30 am
• Overheated water contains 350 times normal level of
melted down radioactive matter
• A worker sees the open valve and closes it
• To prevent an explosion, he reopens it, releasing
radioactive steam into the atmosphere
40
March 28, 1979, 8:00 am
•
•
•
•
Nuclear Regulatory commission is notified
White House is notified
TMI is evacuated
All small children and pregnant women within a five mile
radius are evacuated
• A fifteen-year clean up project awaits
41
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
•
•
•
•
•
•
Located 11 miles north of the city of Chernobyl
Plant consisted of 4reactors
Produced 10% of Ukraine’s electricity
Construction began in the 1970’s
Reactor #4 was completed in 1983
At the time of
the accident,
reactors #5
and #6 were
in progress.
42
Reactor Schematic
Reactor Plant Scenario
1.As the reaction occurs, the uranium fuel
becomes hot.
2.The water pumped through the core in
pressure tubes removes the heat from
the fuel.
3.The water is then boiled into steam.
4.The steam turns the turbines.
5.The water is then cooled.
6.Then the process repeats.
44
Chernobyl - What happened?
Saturday, April 26, 1986:
• Reactor #4 was undergoing a test to
test the backup power supply in case
of a power loss.
• The power fell too low, allowing
the concentration of xenon-135
to rise.
• The workers continued the test, and
in order to control the rising levels
of xenon-135, the control rods were
pulled out.
45
What happened? cont’d
• The experiment involved shutting down the coolant pumps, which
caused the coolant to rapidly heat up and boil.
• Pockets of steam formed in the coolant lines. When the coolant
expanded in this particular design, the power level went up.
• All control rods were ordered to be inserted. As the rods were
inserted, they became deformed and stuck. The reaction could not be
stopped.
• The rods melted and the steam pressure caused an explosion, which
blew a hole in the roof. A graphite fire also resulted from the
explosion.
• To save money, the reactor was constructed with only partial
containment, which allowed the radiation to escape. This dispersed
large amount of radioactive particulate and gaseous debris containing
cesium-137 and strontium-90 which are highly radioactive reactor
waste product.
46
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
Disaster
47
Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant
• Fukushima Daiichi is among the world’s largest
power plants.
48
49
Causes of Disaster
• The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami was an 9.0magnitude earthquake followed by tsunami waves.
50
Accident of Nuclear Power Plant
• The fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant suffered three core
meltdowns due to failure of the emergency cooling system for
lack of electricity supply. This resulted in the most serious
nuclear accident since the chernobyl disaster.
51
Waste Disposal
• Yucca mountain
• Use breeder reactors instead
• Alternative storage site
52
Yucca Mountain
The Future of Nuclear Waste
Storage
Before Yucca Mountain
• At this time, radioactive wastes were being stored at the
Department of Energy’s facilities around the country
• High level wastes were stored in underground carbon or
stainless steel tanks
• Spent nuclear fuel was put in above-ground dry storage
facilities and in water-filled pools
54
Yucca Mountain
• Storage sites becoming full, waste may be transported to
Yucca Mountain
• Located on government land, about 100 miles northwest
of Las Vegas in the Nevada desert
• It is a 6 mile long, 1,200-foot high flat-topped volcanic
ridge
• Will be able to house 70,000 tons of radioactive material
55
Problems with Yucca Mountain
• The nuclear waste currently sitting around is enough to
fill the repository
• At the earliest, the repository will be open in 2010, which
seems unlikely
• NRC has found 293 technical issues with the repository
that must be fixed
• Danger to the public with the transportation of the waste
to yucca mountain
56
Still More Problems
• Possible health risks to those living near Yucca Mountain
• Eventual corrosion of the metal barrels which the waste
is stored in
• Located in an earthquake region and contains many
interconnected faults and fractures
• These could move groundwater and any escaping
radioactive material through the repository to the aquifer
below and then to the outside environment
57
Oops!
• At right is a map
of the Yucca
Mountain site
• The area within
the dotted line is
the burial site
• Two faults run
directly through
the site
58
Nuclear Proliferation
• Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons,
fissionable material, and weapons-applicable nuclear
technology and information to nations not recognized as
"Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the NonProliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as
the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT.
• Fuel cycles that involve the chemical reprocessing of
spent fuel to separate weapons-usable plutonium and
uranium enrichment technologies are of obvious concern
• Once-through cycle sends discharged fuel directly to
disposal, thus allowing the used fuels to be broken
down, leaving no options for proliferation
59
Nuclear Power Countries
60
Threat of Proliferation
• North Korea (DPRK) part of
“Axis of Evil”
• 2003 admission of nuclear
weapons
• Kim Jong-Il* justifies nukes
as defense against the U.S.
• Other potential threats?
Kimmy Neutron
61
Decline of Nuclear Power
• The public began growing fearful of possible
meltdowns, especially after the disaster at Three Mile
Island
• Nearly 2/3 of all orders for new plants were cancelled
in the late 1970’s
• No new plants having been built in the past twentyfive years
• The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident prompted a
re-examination of nuclear safety and nuclear energy
policy in many countries[99] and raised questions
among some commentators over the future of the
renaissance.
62
The Anti-Nuclear Movement
• Rachel Carson
started it all in Silent
Spring
• She was the first to
bring to light the
harmful externalities
of nuclear energy,
including the risks of
genetic mutations
63
Case Study:
Different Attitudes on Nuclear Power
United States:
• Stigma of “unsafe” after Three Mile Island
• NIMBY attitude toward siting
France:
•
•
•
•
•
64
Impact of “oil shock” during 1970s
Advantage of strong centralized gov’t
Huge lobbying campaign
Trust in technology
Today, France is energy exporter!
Energy Policy Act of 2005
• Signed by the president in August 2005
• Government would cover cost overruns due to
delays, up to $500 million each for the first two new
nuclear reactors, and up to $250 million for the next
four reactors
• Delays in construction due to vastly increased
regulations were a primary cause of the high cost of
some earlier plants.
65
NUCLEAR POWER IN INDIA
• India has a largely indigenous nuclear power programme.
• The Indian government is committed to growing its nuclear power
capacity as part of its massive infrastructure development programme.
• The government has set ambitious targets to grow nuclear capacity.
• Because India is outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty due to its
weapons programme, it was for 34 years largely excluded from trade in
nuclear plant and materials, which hampered its development of civil
nuclear energy until 2009.
• Due to earlier trade bans and lack of indigenous uranium, India has
uniquely been developing a nuclear fuel cycle to exploit its reserves of
thorium.
• Since 2010, a fundamental incompatibility between India’s civil liability
law and international conventions limits foreign technology provision
66
Nuclear reactors in India
67
Electricity sector
• Total generation (in 2017): 1532 TWh
• Generation mix: 1134 TWh (74%) coal; 142 TWh (9%)
hydro; 77 TWh (5%) solar & wind; 71 TWh (5%) natural
gas; 45 TWh (3%) biofuels & waste; 38 TWh (2%)
nuclear; and 25 TWh (2%) oil.
• Import/export balance: 2 TWh net export (5.6 TWh
imported; 7.2 TWh exported)
• Total consumption: 1164 TWh
• Per capita consumption: 1200 kWh in 2017
68
• India's nuclear power program has proceeded largely without fuel or
technological assistance from other countries (but see later section). The
pressurized heavy-water reactor (PHWR) design was adopted in 1964,
since it required less natural uranium than the BWRs, needed no
enrichment, and could be built with the country’s engineering capacity at
that time – pressure tubes rather than a heavy pressure vessel being
involved.
• The Atomic Energy Establishment was set up at Trombay, near Mumbai,
in 1957 and renamed as Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) ten
years later.
• The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is responsible for
design, construction, commissioning and operation of thermal nuclear
power plants.
• The 1962 Atomic Energy Act prohibits private control of nuclear power
generation, and 2016 amendments allowing public sector joint ventures do
not extend to private sector companies, nor allow direct foreign investment
in nuclear power, apart from the supply chain.
69
• The two Tarapur 150 MWe boiling water reactors (BWRs) built by
GE on a turnkey contract before the advent of the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty were originally 200 MWe. They were downrated
due to recurrent problems but have run reasonably well since. They
have been using imported enriched uranium (from France and China
in 1980-90s and Russia since 2001) and are under International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.
• Kudankulam 1&2: Russia's Atomstroyexport supplied the country's
first large nuclear power plant, comprising two VVER-1000 (V-412)
reactors
70