International Journal of Engineering Applied Sciences and Technology, 2020
Vol. 4, Issue 12, ISSN No. 2455-2143, Pages 287-289
Published Online April 2020 in IJEAST (http://www.ijeast.com)
NUCLEAR PLANT SAFETY AND IT’S
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Siddharth Roy V.V Mehtre
UG Scholar, Assistant Professor,
Department of Electrical Engineering Department of Electrical Engineering,
Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University,
College of Engineering, College of Engineering,
Pune, India Pune, India
ABSTRACT - Power is a supply on which civil plants are very radioactive in nature which may lead
society is developed. It affects every aspect of life to very serious damage to mankind as well as
and is energetic to the being of the current world. animals (Energy Prospects to 1985, Paris (1974)).
This paper explains the effects it has on a national The waste of Nuclear power plants is also dangerous
and global scale. A projected technology for the to marine creatures as the waste results in water
progress of nuclear energy is also inspected to poisoning (Masters, GM, London (1975).
show its aids and compare it to conventional
nuclear energy. In India Nuclear power plants II. NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
secure the fourth place in terms of producing The Nuclear power plant is much similar to that of a
electricity. the civil society is totally built on the thermal power station as in this also the generation
resources of electricity. This paper discovers of electricity goes indirectly. In Nuclear power plant
nuclear power and its presence it throws on the the reactor liquid is heated up by the Nuclear reactor
globe. Both the positive and negative respects of (HANSEN, M, 1976). The liquid can be anything
the Nuclear power plant are taken under depending upon the type and quality of the boiler or
consideration while writing this paper. The paper reactor. In the reactor the coolant is heated to
also contains the better way and modification on generate steam which is fed to the steam turbine.
of Nuclear power plant that makes it better than After which the steam or the remaining steam is
other conventional sources in several aspects. driven in a condenser which condenses the steam
The review is collected from an extensive variety (BLOMEKE, 1975).
of writers, experts and nuclear doyens.
The condenser acts as a heat exchanger which cools
Keywords: Nuclear power, Nuclear Reactors, the steam and then it is further connected into river
Electricity, Nuclear power Plants. for disposal or a cooling tower. The cooling tower
I. INTRODUCTION then cools the steam to water and again the water is
pumped back to the steam generator and the process
The Nuclear power plant is a thermal station in continues (Diecxamp, et al,1971).
which Nuclear reactor serves as the main source of
heat. The heat is used inside the Heat exchanger to The diagram is shown in Fig 1.
heat up the water into very high temperature of
steam. The turbine is rotated by injecting a high
pressurized steam over its blade which rotates, and
the turbine is attached with and electrical generator
which moves the shaft. The shaft acts as a prime
mover to the generator, and the mechanical energy
is converted to electrical energy. Hence electricity is
produced (Diecxamp, et al, 1971).
On September 3rd 1948, Tennessee in the United
States, was the first to generate electricity using
nuclear reactor at the X-10 Graphite reactor in Oak
Ridge. The X-10 Graphite reactor was also the first
nuclear power plant which powered a light bulb
(Kenward, 1976).
The Nuclear power plant has also a very hazardous
impact on the environment because of the Nuclear
fuel. As the waste generated in a Nuclear power
287
International Journal of Engineering Applied Sciences and Technology, 2020
Vol. 4, Issue 12, ISSN No. 2455-2143, Pages 287-289
Published Online April 2020 in IJEAST (http://www.ijeast.com)
III. PARTS OF NUCLEAR POWER PLANT the mixture of any other metal (Energy
Prospects to 1985 Paris 1974).
1) Fuel 5) Turbines-
The material which undergoes fission is called The turbine consists of fins on which the high-
fuel or nuclear fuel. The mainly and the most pressure steams are injected. The turbine
feasible fuels are Plutonium (Pu-236), rotates because of the force of the high
Uranium (U-238) and Thorium (Th-232). And pressurized steam. Now, the turbine rotates
among all these Uranium is the most preferred converting the heat energy to mechanical
because of its high melting point(KENDALL, energy further coupling with the generator
et al. Sievvrra Club (1974)). (Power Reactor in Member states Vienna,
2) Moderator 1976).
They are simple rods used to control the chain 6) Generator-
reaction by absorbing the energy and slowing The generator is coupled with the turbine and
down the speed of the neutrons. The chain as a result the moving turbine and the change
reaction is controlled by the neutrons which in the magnetic flux causes the production of
have the desired speed. electricity. The generators used are of low-pole
There are certain elements like Boron, AC synchronous type and are rated at high
Cadmium, Silver, Indium etc. are the most speed (HANSEN, M, 1976).
commonly used elements in the control chain
reaction. As they have the tendency of
absorbing vast number of neutrons without
involving themselves into the fission reaction
(Biello, D. 2012, March 18).
3) Coolant
Because of decay heat Nuclear fuels requires
continuous heating no matter if the reactor is
operating or not. Fuel cooling consists of three
systems:
i. Heating transport system-
The heating transport system brings the
heat produced by the Nuclear reactor to
the steam generators. This system is made
up of very robust pipes filled with heavy
water(BAIR, R C .Science 183 (1974)
715).
ii. Steam systems
The condensation system uses regular
water, the heat from the reactor turns this
water into high pressure steam for the IV. PROPOSED IDEAS
rotation of turbines and generators. That
Automatic Control Rods-
steam is then cooled and condensed using
the third system that pumps in cold water If we set the control rods to work automatically then
from a body of water such as a lake or several disasters such as the Chernobyl can be
reservoir (Biello, D. 2012, March 18). prevented. While functioning automatically the
4) Control Rods machine will take care of the temperature, pressure
These rods are implemented in the Nuclear and the power of fission reaction inside the reactor.
power station so as to control the speed of The automatic control rods will also help in stopping
fission of the radioactive fuel. The basic the fission reaction completely inside the reactor by
elements used to make a control rods are Boron submerging itself completely in case of emergency.
(B-10), Cadmium (Cd-113), Silver (Ag), It will also reduce the complexity in the routine
Hafnium (Hf) etc. Here as we know that Boron maintenance hours. In accumulation to these
(B-10) has the great tendency to absorb structures, there are protection arrangements as well
neutrons but, being brittle in nature Boron are as Alarm and one-to-one care arrangements.
not so desirable for constructing a control rod Maximum of the NPPs will have the ultimate trip
(Kenward, M 1976). logics as well as safety arrangement firm reinforced.
But Hafnium (Hf) owns a good mechanical They are programmed but not grounded on any
property which makes it unique and a control software-based arrangements. Recent NPPs do have
rod can be constructed using Hafnium without computerised SCADA systems with Event and data
logging for operative evidence, display, trending and
288
International Journal of Engineering Applied Sciences and Technology, 2020
Vol. 4, Issue 12, ISSN No. 2455-2143, Pages 287-289
Published Online April 2020 in IJEAST (http://www.ijeast.com)
analysis purpose. However, all the vital parameters VIII. CONCLUSION
will also be panel displayed. All the vital sensor
channels are usually triplicated (with either median There are several types of electricity generation
or 2 out of 3 logic). Pressurized Heavy Water plant. We have covered all the advantages and
Reactors (PHWRs) need daily re-fuelling. This is disadvantages of Nuclear power plant over various
carried out on power, without shutting the reactor types of conventional power plants. After comparing
down. This complex activity is achieved entirely by with all of the power plants and in all aspects. It
remote control. Computes control the fuelling seems that the Nuclear power plant provides the
machines that pushes out old fuel and loads new fuel energy in less fuel as well as with higher efficiency
into the Reactor. Old fuel is also sent to the storage (Biello, D., 2012, March 18). So, if the solution of
remotely. its waste handling is somehow taken out it will be
the best electricity generating plant with the least
V. NUCLEAR BENEFITS amount of emissions.
The Nuclear power has a very vast benefits to the IX. ACKNOWEDGEMENT
world. First of all, it has very few emissions as
compared to any other conventional type of power I would like to express my special thanks of
plants. The conventional power plants use fossil fuel gratitude to my subject teacher Mr. Swapnil
for their electricity generation such as coal. The Namekar for their able guidance and support in
burning of coal contributes a very vast rise in completing my research paper. I would also like to
environment pollution ((BIER Report) (1974)). extend my gratitude towards our head of the
department “Mr. D.S. Bankar” and our senior
As also the intake is very low for such a high-power faculty member “Mr. V.V MEHTRE” for providing
generation and the emission is also not contributing me with all the facilities that were required.
in any greenhouse effect or any climate change as
there is no such emission of gases (Diecxamp, et al, X. REFERENCE
1971). The fossil fuels or the oils are on the verge of
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energy the temperature of the reactor rises very levels of ionizing radiations Washington”
massively and can lead to bursting of the reactor if (1974).
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VII. ENVIROMENTAL IMPACTS [9.] KENDALL, HW, MUGLEWER, S,
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materials. The waste leaves a very harsh impact on revive nuclear power (2012, March 27)
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surrounding as well as mankind and other living
creatures (Friedberg, et al. 2008).
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