Abstract
This Chapter is about the existing and future nuclear power plants. After a classification of nuclear reactors according to the purpose, the type of nuclear fuel, coolant, moderator and operation mode, we briefly describe the features common to each generic type of reactors, providing data on the number of reactors in operation and under construction worldwide as well as reviewing the peculiarities of the main conventional designs. The chapter also deals with the nuclear fuel cycle processes including the analysis of the world reserves and demand of nuclear fuel. A Section is also devoted to a comparison between nuclear power and other generating electricty technologies as far as fuel needed, greenhouse gas emission and land use.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
Clearly, 81 % is a worldwide average load factor. For instance, in 2015 the 99 US nuclear power reactors achieved a record 91.9 % load factor, surpassing 91.8 % capacity reached in 2007.
- 2.
The CANDU (short for CANadian Deuterium Uranium) reactor is a Canadian-invented, pressurized heavy water reactor used for generating electric power. The acronym refers to its deuterium-oxide (heavy water) moderator and its use of (originally natural) uranium fuel.
- 3.
Decommissioning is the process whereby a nuclear power plant or other nuclear installation is dismantled to the point that it no longer requires measures for radiation protection.
- 4.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the international body for the assessment of climate change established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts.
- 5.
In general terms, sustainability is the capacity of our society to maintain itself indefinitely by reducing the human impact on the environment, namely at a level that can be sustained by the planet as a whole. An important aspect of sustainability is the use of natural resources, and indeed sustainable nuclear fission should make better use of them, as discussed in this Chapter.
- 6.
By proliferation in this context it is meant the production of nuclear weapons by more and more countries, in particular those who are not part of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (see Sect. 5.11), with the increased possibility that the weapons get out of control.
- 7.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the autonomous, intergovernmental organisation set up in 1957 by the United Nations. Its mission is to promote the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies and to inhibit its use for any military purpose.
- 8.
The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) is a specialised agency within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Its mission is to assist its member countries in maintaining and further developing the scientific, technological and legal bases required for a safe, environmentally friendly and economical use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
References
OECD-NEA Nuclear Energy Today, 2nd edn. (2012), ISBN 978-92-64-99204-7. NEA Report No. 6885
IAEA, Nuclear Power Reactors in the World, 2015 Edition. Online http://www-pub.iaea.org/books/IAEABooks/10903/Nuclear-Power-Reactors-in-the-World-2015-Edition.
IAEA Power reactor information system (PRIS), http://www.iaea.org.pris
http://www.world-nuclear.org/Press-and-Events/Briefings/Restart-of-Sendai-1/
IAEA-PRIS, MSC, 2015: The World nuclear Industry Status Report 2015, by M. Schneider, A. Froggatt, J. Hazemann, T. Katsuta. M.V. Ramana, S. Thomas, J. Porritt. Paris, London, July 2015
WNA, Nuclear Power in the World Today, http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/current-and-future-generationnuclear-power-in-the-world-today/
J. Hermans, Energy Survival Guide (Leiden University Press/BetaText, 2011), p. 165
W. Moomaw, P. Burgherr, G. Heath, M. Lenzen, J. Nyboer, A. Verbruggen, Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation, Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (IPCC), p. 19, and Annex II: Methodology (2001), p. 190. ISBN 978-92-9169-131-9. Online: https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/special-reports/srren/SRREN_FD_SPM_final.pdf.
M. Ricotti, Nuclear Energy: Basics, Present, Future, Lecture Notes of the Course 1 “New strategies for energy generation, Conversion and storage” of the Joint EPS-SIF International School on Energy, Varenna, Lake Como, 30 July–4 Aug (2012). ISSN 2282-4928 and ISBN 978-88-7438-079-4
WNA, Power Reactors—Characteristics. 2010 WNA Pocket Guide, World Nuclear Association, July 2010
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/LMFBR_schematics2.svg http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
GenIV International Forum, https://www.gen-4.org/gif/jcms/c_9260/Public
INPRO, https://www.iaea.org/inpro/
OECD-NEA&IAEA, “Uranium 2014: Resources, Production and Demand” (The Redbook). Online: https://www.iaea.org/OurWork/ST/NE/NEFW/Technical-Areas/NFC/uranium-production-cycle-redbook.html
WNA, http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/current-and-future-generation/thorium/
WNA, http://www.world.nuclear.org/info/Nuclear-Fuel_Cycle/Uranium-Resources/Supply-of-Uranium
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
De Sanctis, E., Monti, S., Ripani, M. (2016). Nuclear Reactors. In: Energy from Nuclear Fission. Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30651-3_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30651-3_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-30649-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-30651-3
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)