Table 2.

0 - GENERATION III+ REACTORS

REACTOR ENERGY YIELD DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS

VVER TOI (Water-water Energetic Thermal Capacity = 3300 MW - Radiation safety is
Reactor Universal Optimized Electrical Capacity = 1255 MW assembled in a way to avoid
Digital) impermissible ionizing
radiation to the population
Design Focus: Improvement of the and environment
competitiveness of Russian VVER surrounding the powerplant.
design internationally by enhancing - For security purposes, the
on the following: nuclear fuel, boundaries of
the coolant circuit, and
hermetic equipment would
 Stability in the terms of serve as barriers for the
critical external impacts and entire nuclear plant,
natural disasters. - Has protection against
 Correspondence to the world external impact such as
accepted rules and intensity 7 seismic waves,
regulations. air impact waves at 30kPa
with a compression phase
 Correspondence to the
duration of 1 second, wind
climatic conditions from the
maximum design of 56
tropics up to Northern
meters per second,
regions.
tornadoes, floods & storms,
 Independence in the terms of and a strike from a 400-ton
external power and water aircraft at a velocity of 150
supply sources loss. m/s with consideration of
fuel fire.
- Possesses the following
active safety systems:
- System of fuel pool
emergency and scheduled
cooling down and cooling;
- Boron injection emergency
system;
- Emergency steam generator
cooling down system;
- Emergency power supply
system (diesel-generator set).
- Possesses the following
passive safety systems:

a. passive part of the core

emergency cooling system;
b. passive core-flooding
system;
c. water supply system from
the fuel pond to primary
circuit;
d. system of passive heat
removal from steam
generator;
e. primary circuit protection
against overpressure;
f. secondary circuit protection
against overpressure;
g. fast-acting pressure
reducing station;
h. emergency gas-removal
system;
i. emergency power supply
system (accumulators);
j. passive system of inner
shell leakages filtration.

- Contains a corium trap

- Uses water both as moderator
and coolant
- Four Loop

AP1000 Thermal Capacity = 3415 MW - Two-Loop PWR

- Water as moderator and
Design Focus: Cheaper by reducing (USA) Electrical Capacity = 1110 to coolant
 equipment 1117 MW - 50% fewer safety-related
(China) Electrical Capacity = 1157 valves
to 1170 MW - 35% fewer pumps
- 80% less safety-related piping
- 85% less control cable
- 45% less seismic building
volume
- Maximum core damage
frequency of 5.09 × 10−7 per
plant per year
- Used fuel can be stored in
water. Aged fuel can also be
stored on the ground but
encased in a dry cask
storage.
- Has a water tank affixed
above the reactor itself.
- The system utilizes multiple
explosively-operated and DC
operated valves that operates
during the first thirty minutes
even in the absence of an
operator.
- Passively eliminates heat for
72 hours, then relies on the
water top for further cooling,
as long as required.
- Passive cooling system
features water flowing over
the top of the reactor by
virtue of gravity where it
evaporates to remove heat.
CAP1400 Thermal Capacity = 4040 MW - Two-loop PWR
Electrical Capacity = 1500 MW - 193 fuel assemblies with
Design Focus: Larger energy enhanced steam generators.
capacity - Output temperatures of 323
degree Celsius.
- 60 years lifetime
- 72 hours no interruption in
case of accidents
- Mean discharge burn-up is
about 50 GWd/t with a
maximum of 59.5 GWd/t
- Contains extra control rods
for MOX capability
- Seismic rating of 300 cm/s 2
EPR (Evolutionary Power Reactor) Thermal Capacity = 4400 MW - Can utilize any of the three
Electrical Capacity = 1650 MW as fuel: 5% enriched
Design Focus: Increased safety uranium oxide, reprocessed
uranium fuel, pure uranium-
plutonium oxide
- Burns 17% lesser uranium
fuel per unit of electrical
energy produced, than older
designs.
- Four self-sustaining
emergency cooling systems,
each providing the required
cooling of the decay heat that
persists for one to three years
after the reactor's initial
shutdown.
- Hermetically design reactor
- Corium trap in an event of
core escape
- Two-layer concrete wall with
total thickness 2.6 m,
designed to withstand impact
by airplanes and internal
overpressure.
- Maximum core damage
frequency of 6.1 × 10−7 per
station per year
 - Uses only one steam engine,
and is capable of utilizing all
the steam produced
 IPHWR-700 (Indian Pressurized Thermal Capacity = 2166 MW - Uses heavy water as coolant
Heavy Water Reactor-700) Electrical Capacity = 700 MW and moderator.
- Two different and quick-
Design Focus: Improvement of the reacting shutdown systems
CANDU system for reduced - Reactor building contains
construction time and cost and double containment
addition of new safety mechanisms - Water-filled calandria vault
- Integral calandria - end shield
assembly
- Zr-2.5% Nb pressure tubes
separated from respective
calandria tubes
- Calandria tube filled with
carbon dioxide (recirculated)
to monitor pressure tube leak
- Partial boiling at the coolant
channel outlet
- Combination of primary heat
transport system feeders
- Passive decay heat removal
system
- Regional over power
protection
- Containment spray system
- Mobile fuel transfer machine
- Steel lined containment wall

Table 2.1 - NUCLEAR REACTOR COOLANTS

COOLANT ADVANTAGES DISADVATANGES

Light Water (Ordinary water) - Easy to obtain - Can restrict a reactor under
- Can act as both coolant and the critical temperature and
moderator critical pressure of 374OC and
- Has the highest heat capacity 218 bar, limiting a reactor’s
for any liquid, which is 4.184 thermal efficiency.
Joules - Some neutrons interact with
the hydrogen and could form
deuterium where some of
which may evolve to the
radioactive tritium. This
causes the formation of
radioactive water and
sometimes could leak onto
the ground exposing the
workers to radiation.
- Due to the former, light water
has relatively high neutron
capture which limits the
nuclear chain reaction.
Heavy Water (Deuterium oxide) - Has identical properties with - Similarly, with light water,
that of light water but has neutrons may also interact
lower neutron capture, which with the hydrogen atoms in
implies more fission activity. D2O and eventually evolve to
- Has a higher boiling point tritium atoms, forming
than that of light water at radioactive water.
345OC (154 bar).
Borated Water - Taken in the form of boric - About 90% of tritium
acid or sodium borate, and formation is due to reactions
combined with water to form between boron-10 and
borate water, which can be thermal neutrons. Tritium is a
used to absorb heat from the radioactive isotope and, in the
reactor core and transfer it to presence of water, forms
a secondary circuit. radioactive water.
- Can be used in emergency
core cooling systems, since it
has high neutron capture
capabilities.
Molten Metals / Liquid Metals - Has higher rate of heat - Being electrically conductive,
absorption, as well as higher such coolant would require
 power density. electromagnetic pumps in
- The high temperatures of the order to flow.
metals could also be - Difficulties in inspection and
employed for the production repair of equipment such as
of vapors, which increases a pumps and pipes submerged
reactor’s thermal efficiency. in the dense liquid metal.
- Risks of fire ignitions (for
alkali metals), pipe and tube
corrosions, and production of
radioactive activation
products.
Molten Salt - Can be operated - Hot salts can create a
approximately to atmospheric corrosive environment and
pressure, as compared to light damage the pipes and tubes.
water reactors which still - Chemical composition of the
requires pressures of 75 to salts often transmute due to
150 times greater than the exposure from radiation.
atmospheric pressure.
- Reduces the size and cost
required for a Light Water
Reactor due to removal of
pressurizing equipment.
- Operates at relatively higher
temperatures, which means
higher electricity-generation
efficiency and even process-
heat opportunities.
Gas - Can operate at 800 to 850 OC - Has lower heat transfer and
giving ang energy conversion transport capabilities (low
efficiency as high as 40% or heat absorption and possible
even 50% when advanced gas heat losses to the
turbines are used surroundings upon transport).
- Uses a lower core power - Requires large contact
density and a high heat surfaces and flow passages in
capacity core that helps limit the reactor and heat
fuel temperatures in events exchangers.
of loss-of-coolant accident. - Has higher pumping
- Avoids steam-zirconium requirements.
reactions which often
generates the explosive
hydrogen gas.
- Plants utilizing gas coolants
can be refueled even while at
full operation.
Hydrocarbon - Less corrosive than water - Has a relatively lower heat
when in contact with metals capacity than water, which
(eliminates the complicated means the HCs would require
assembly of pipes, higher flow rates to achieve
elimination of corrosion- the same cooling effect of
resistant pipes and therefore water.
can be constructed using the - The thermal neutrons
typical carbon steels instead) produced during the reaction
- Some HC do dot flash into could interact with the HC
gas unlike water, which then and break them into smaller
eliminates the use of chain wherein some produces
containment structures. a tar-like substance and could
block the pipes over time.
Some of the produced shorter
chains could even be toxic
and flammable.

Table 2.2 - NEUTRON MODERATORS

MODERATOR ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

Graphite - Cheap - Needs to be extremely pure in
- Thermally stable order to be an effective
- Conducts heat well moderator. Even the slightest
amount of contamination
would hinder it ineffective.
- Could react with carbon and
oxygen, reducing its
effectiveness.
- Could potentially be oxidized
 in the presence of air, and
with its low strength and low
density, it could change forms
within the reactor.
- Could be dangerous when
paired with a water coolant as
were in the Chernobyl
accident.
Heavy Water - Works well as a neutron - Neutron absorption cross-
moderator since it contains a section is lower
lot of hydrogen atoms, and - High cost of production
one hydrogen is enough to
impede a neutron.
- Provides higher efficiency
and requires lesser enriched
uranium.
Light Water - Works well as a neutron - Since LW has a higher
moderator since it contains a neutron absorption cross
lot of hydrogen atoms, and section, it could impede the
one hydrogen is enough to fission activity, thus, it is best
impede a neutron. to use LW only with enriched
- Readily available and fuels.
inexpensive. - Water has a tendency to
- Has low void coefficient expand when too much
- Negative Doppler reactivity neutrons is absorbed,
coefficient (also known as increasing kinetic activity and
fuel temperature coefficient) radioactivity and eventually
lead to core meltdown.