Nuclear Power Plants

Transcription

1 NUCLEAR ENERGY times more energy 1000 times less waste Dr Jan Leen Kloosterman Assoc. Prof Nuclear Reactor Physics Head of Section Physics of Nuclear Reactors Program Director of Sustainable Energy Technology 1 Nuclear Power Plants UVA, March 16, 2011 vision from

2 Fuel pellets Contain 4% Uranium-235 and 96% Uranium Pressurized Water Reactor 4 2

3 Borssele Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) 5 Pressure vessel PWR m 4 m Delft University of Technology Challenge the future 3

4 Boiling Water Reactor 7 Nuclear waste production 8 4

5 U-235 Moderator U-238 U-235 Higher actinides Pu Am Fission products 9 Spent fuel composition 1% plutonium Spent Fuel 95% uranium 4% Fission products 0.1% americium 10 5

6 Radioactief afval: gebruikte splijtstof Spent fuel: only 5% is waste Other actinides plutonium 100 kg 10 kg waste Fission products 450 kg Fuel and breed uranium nuclides 9500 kg Numbers: annual production in Borssele NPP Radiotoxicity of spent fuel Actinides Fiss Prods Ore 10 7 Radiotoxicity (Sv) Storage time (a) 12 6

7 Radiotoxicity per element Pu Am Cm Ore Fiss Prods Radiotoxicity (Sv) Storage time (a) 13 Radiotoxicity per element Pu Am Cm Ore Fiss Prods Radiotoxicity (Sv) Full recycling of Pu and Am Storage time (a) 14 7

8 Nuclear Fuel Cycle in 2050 LWR + HTR a 300 a a Pu+Am FR 300 a Renewable Reactor Energy, Institute Sep Delft / Nuclear 27, 2011 Energy Science&Technology 15 Fast reactors 16 8

9 neutron U-235 Moderator U-238 U-235 Moderator U Fast neutron U-235 U-238 U-235 U

10 Fast neutron U-238 U-238 Plutonium gives more neutrons per fission! U-238 U Uranium isotopes Not fissile Fissile Good fuel Also fuel!! 99,3% 0,7% 20 10

11 Fast reactors Phenix (F) Super-Phenix (F) Monju (Jp) BN-600 (R) 21 China Experimental Fast Reactor 22 11

12 Generations of nuclear reactors Generation I Early Prototype Reactors - Shippingport - Dresden, Fermi I - Magnox Generation II Commercial Power Reactors - LWR-PWR, BWR - CANDU - VVER/RBMK Generation III Advanced LWRs - ABWR - System AP600 - EPR Evolutionary Designs Offering Improved Economics Gen I Gen II Gen III Generation IV - Highly Economical - Enhanced Safety - Minimal Waste - Proliferatio n Resistant Gen IV 23 Six reactor types in Gen-IV 24 12

13 Generation-IV reactors The 6 selected reactor concepts Hydrogen production: Very High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor Thorium Evolution of Light Water Reactors: Supercritical Water Cooled Reactor (thermal/fast) Waste reduction and high efficiency: Gas Cooled Fast Reactor Sodium Cooled Fast Reactor Lead Cooled Fast Reactor Very innovative: Molten Salt Reactor (epithermal) Thorium }Closed fuel cycle

14 27 Actinides (mg/kg) MSR: 22 liter/kg LWR: 4 cl/kg FR: 6 liter/kg 28 14

15 Thorium reserves 29 Breeding with thorium U-233 Coolant Th232 U-233 U

16 MSR or LFTR 31 Aircraft Reactor Experiment (ARE)

17 Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) Number of neutrons per absorption # neutrons per absorption Thermal breeding 233 U Fast breeding 239 Pu Breeding Chain reaction neutron energy / ev 34 17

18 Fuel cycle MSR 35 Radiotoxicity Nuclear Waste LWR 36 18

19 Radiotoxicity Nuclear Waste MSR 37 Conclusions A Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) is inherently safe Thorium in a MSR produces much less long-lived nuclear waste Thorium in a MSR can produce all electricity consumed worldwide for many tens of thousands of years Nuclear energy can contribute to a safe and sustainable energy supply 38 19