Advertisement

Why Nuclear Power Plant Energy

  • Bahman Zohuri
Chapter
First Online:
  • 300 Downloads

Abstract

The major growth in the electricity production industry in the last 30 years has centered on the expansion of natural gas power plants based on gas turbine cycles. The most popular extension of the simple Brayton gas turbine has been the combined cycle power plant with the air-Brayton cycle serving as the topping cycle and the Steam-Rankine cycle serving as the bottoming cycle for new generation of nuclear power plants that are known as GEN-IV. The air-Brayton cycle is an open-air cycle, and the Steam-Rankine cycle is a closed cycle. The air-Brayton cycle for a natural gas-driven power plant must be an open cycle, where the air is drawn in from the environment and exhausted with the products of combustion to the environment. This technique is suggested as an innovative approach to GEN-IV nuclear power plants in the form and type of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). The hot exhaust from the air-Brayton cycle passes through a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) prior to exhausting to the environment in a combined cycle. The HRSG serves the same purpose as a boiler for the conventional Steam-Rankine cycle [1, 2].

This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. 1.
    Zohuri, B. (2015). Combined cycle driven efficiency for next generation nuclear power plants: An innovative design approach (1st ed.). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
  2. 2.
    Zohuri, B., & McDaniel, P. (2017). Combined cycle driven efficiency for next generation nuclear power plants: An innovative design approach (2nd ed.). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
  3. 3.
    Zohuri, B. (2018). Small modular reactors as renewable energy sources. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
  4. 4.
    Zohuri, B. (2018). Hydrogen energy: Challenges and solutions for a cleaner future. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
  5. 5.
    Zohuri, B. (2017). Hybrid energy systems: Driving reliable renewable sources of energy storage. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
  6. 6.
    The future of nuclear power, an interdisciplinary MIT study. (2003).Google Scholar
  7. 7.
    Zohuri, B. (2016). Plasma physics and controlled thermonuclear reactions driven fusion energy. New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. 8.
    Zohuri, B. (2016). Inertial confinement fusion driven thermonuclear energy. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
  9. 9.
    Zohuri, B. (2017). Magnetic confinement fusion driven thermonuclear energy. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
  10. 10.
    Cohen, B. L. (1974). Nuclear science and society. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books.Google Scholar
  11. 11.
    Zohuri, B., & McDaniel, P. (2015). Thermodynamics in nuclear power plant systems. New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. 12.
    Zohuri, B. (2017). Thermal-hydraulic analysis of nuclear reactors (2nd ed.). New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. 13.
    Chilton, A. B., Kenneth Shults, J., & Faw, R. E. (1983). Principle of radiation shielding (1st ed.). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
  14. 14.
    GE Energy Flex Efficiency 50 Combined Cycle Power Plant, e-brochure. (2012).Google Scholar
  15. 15.
    Horlock, J. H. (1997). Cogeneration-combined heat and power (CHP). Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing.Google Scholar
  16. 16.
    Mattingly, J. D. (1996). Elements of gas turbine propulsion. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
  17. 17.
    Zohuri, B., McDaniel, P., & De Oliveira, C. (2015). Advanced nuclear open-air-Brayton cycles for highly efficient power conversion. Nuclear Technology Journal.Google Scholar
  18. 18.
    Zohuri, B. (2017). Inertial confinement fusion driven thermonuclear energy. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
  19. 19.
    Johnson, K. (2009, May 21). Is nuclear power renewable energy. Wall Street Journal.Google Scholar
  20. 20.
    Cohen, B. L. (1983). Breeder reactors: A renewable energy source. American Journal of Physics, 51, 75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. 21.
  22. 22.
    Zohuri, B. (2016). Neutronic analysis for nuclear reactor systems (1st ed.). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
  23. 23.
    Fraas, A. P. (1989). Heat exchanger design (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
  24. 24.
    Kanter, J. (2009, August 3). Is nuclear power renewable. New York Times.Google Scholar
  25. 25.
    Chowdhury, D. (2012, March 22). Is nuclear energy renewable energy. Stanford Physics Department.Google Scholar
  26. 26.
    Deterring terrorism—Aircraft crash impact analyses demonstrate nuclear power plant’s structure strength. EPRI study. Retrieved December 2002, from www.nei.org.
  27. 27.
    OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. (2001). Trends in the nuclear fuel cycle. ISBN 92-64-19664-1; Nuclear Science Committee. (1998, October). Summary of the workshop on advanced reactors with innovative fuel. NEA/NSC/DOC (99) 2.Google Scholar
  28. 28.
    Bradford, T. S., Froggatt, A., & Milborrow, D. (2007). The economics of nuclear power. Research report 2007. Reenpeace.org.
  29. 29.

Copyright information

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  • Bahman Zohuri
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Electrical and Computer EngineeringUniversity of New Mexico, Galaxy Advanced Engineering, Inc.AlbuquerqueUSA

Personalised recommendations

Cite chapter

Buy options