Abstract
Much of the early development work on power reactors concentrated, of necessity, on the use of natural uranium. This demanded the selection of high-grade moderator, of low-neutron cross section, either graphite, as in the United Kingdom magnox system, or heavy water, as in the Canadian CANDU reactor. The United States, on the other hand, had available from an early date adequate supplies of enriched uranium from the diffusion plants constructed for military purposes. The high specific fission cross section of the enriched fuel enabled an adequate thermal utilization to be achieved even when a relatively low-grade moderator of high absorption cross section, such as ordinary water, was used. Having chosen water as moderator on account of its excellent moderation properties and ready availability, it was natural to employ it also as the coolant, because of its good heat transfer properties. Reactor development in the United States over the past two decades has been largely devoted to the water-moderated, water-cooled type of reactor, and the last few years have seen an increasing installation of this type in other countries. As of 1980, the 142 light water reactors in operation were producing a total annual output of 109 GWe, out of a total world nuclear generating capacity of about 130 GWe.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Bibliography
L. F. Dale, Grand Gulf contributes to growth in the Sunbelt, Nucl. Eng. Int. 25(304), 35–41 (1980).
C. Eicheldinger, Sequoyah nuclear steam supply system, Nucl. Eng. Int. 16, 850–856 (1971).
General Electric Company, BWR/6, General Description of a Boiling Water Reactor (1980), available from General Electric Company, San Jose, California 95125.
A. L. Heil, The Sequoyah reactors—Fuel and fuel components, Nucl. Eng. Int. 16, 857–859 (1971).
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Summary Description of Westinghouse Pressurized Water Reactor Nuclear Steam Supply System (1979), available from Westinghouse Water Reactor Divisions, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
A. Zaccaria, Advantages of the Mark III Containment, Nucl. Eng. Int. 25(304), 49–50 (1980).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1982 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cameron, I.R. (1982). The Light-Water-Moderated Reactor. In: Nuclear Fission Reactors. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3527-6_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3527-6_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-3529-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-3527-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive