Nuclear Power for Electrical Generation

The purpose of a nuclear power plant is not to produce or release “Nuclear Power.” The purpose of a
nuclear power plant is to produce electricity. It should not be surprising, then, that a nuclear power plant
has many similarities to other electrical generating facilities. It should also be obvious that nuclear
power plants have some significant differences from other plants.

Of the several known methods to produce electricity, by far the most practical for large scale production

and distribution involves the use of an “electrical generator.” In an electrical generator, a magnet (rotor)

revolves inside a coil of wire (stator), creating a flow of electrons inside the wire. This flow of electrons

is called electricity. Some mechanical device (wind turbine, water turbine, steam turbine, diesel engine,

etc.) must be available to provide the motive force for the rotor.

When a turbine is attached to the electrical generator, the kinetic energy (i.e., motion) of the wind, falling

water, or steam pushes against the fan-type blades of the turbine, causing the turbine, and therefore, the

attached rotor of the electrical generator, to spin and produce electricity

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REACTOR FUEL ASSEMBLIES

Both boiling water reactor and pressurized water reactor fuel assemblies consist of the same major components. These major components are the fuel rods, the spacer grids, and the upper and lower end fittings. The fuel assembly drawing on page 1-11 shows these major components (pressurized water reactor fuel assembly). The fuel rods contain the ceramic fuel pellets. The fuel rods are approximately 12 feet long and contain a space at the top for the collection of any gases that are produced by the fission process. These rods are arranged in a square matrix ranging from 17 x 17 for pressurized water reactors to 8 x 8 for boiling water reactors. The spacer grids separate the individual rods with pieces of sprung metal. This provides the rigidity of the assemblies and allows the coolant to flow freely up through the assemblies and around the fuel rods. Some spacer grids may have flow mixing vanes that are used to promote mixing of the coolant as it f...

The World and Nuclear Fission

Purely as a physical phenomenon nuclear fission offers ample scope for intellectual problem-solving. If it implied nothing further it could be left to those specialists who might find satisfaction in its intellectual challenge; the rest of us could busy ourselves with other more pressing concerns. Unfortunately, nuclear fission - as everyone knows - implies much more than abstruse mathematical argument and donnish hairsplitting. Almost from the time it was first recognized, in 1938, nuclear fission has implied not merely articles in learned journals but major decisions of public policy. The social, economic and political context of nuclear fission has been from the beginning an essential factor in its development; in turn, it has exerted an extraordinary range of social, economic and political influence. To foresee with any clarity the shape of the nuclear future, a historical perspective is imperative. It is necessary to know not only how nuclear fission occurs,...

HYDROELECTRIC PLANT

In a hydroelectric power plant, water, flowing from a higher level to a lower level, travels through the metal blades of a water turbine, causing the rotor of the electrical generator to spin and produce electricity. In a fossil-fueled power plant, heat, from the burning of coal, oil, or natural gas, converts (boils) water into steam (A), which is piped to the turbine (B). In the turbine, the steam passes through the blades, which spins the electrical generator (C), resulting in a flow of electricity. After leaving the turbine, the steam is converted (condensed) back into water in the condenser (D). The water is then pumped (E) back to the boiler (F) to be reheated and converted back into steam.

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