Sunday, October 10, 2010

Type Of Reactors And Options

The impotent part of a nuclear power plant is the reactor itself. This is because the fission process takes place in the reactor. There are many different types of reactors which uses many different types of technology's to ensure the fission process is in its optimum performance and it is safe enough to contain the radiation of the fission products. The reactor technology has been improved drastically since the 1950's. These improvement is categorized into few categories according to the year the reactor generation is introduced. From the year 1950 - 1965   were the Generation I reactors (early prototypes), 1965 - 1995 Generation II reactors (commercial reactors used in most of the current nuclear power plant), 1995 -2010 Generation III (Evolutionary reactors), 2010 - 2030 (Evolutionary III+ reactors) and finally 2030 onward there is the Generation IV reactors which can produce hydrogen as the its by product.

In the Nuclear reactors which are available today are categorized in to almost 4 major types of  reactors. Which are; the most comment reactor the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR). Next is the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor.(ABWR). Other than that there is the Advance Gas Cooled reactor (AGR). Then finally we have the Presurized Heavy Water Reactor or simply the CANDU Reactor.

The table below show the types of Generation III reactors available in the market currently and their details.


31 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. hi..i'm just wondering about the differences between those 4 major types of reactors..from those types, what is the best..actually, i dont really understand about the table..i hope it will be explained more on the next post.


    MOHAMAD ASHIFF BIN KAMALUDIN
    ars_shiffy@yahoo.com

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  5. hye..the table is really imformative..why? it'll ease us to compare with other power plant features also...then,we can conclude better decision..Great!!

    arif afifi bin ahmad (me084865)
    megatron_183@yahoo.com

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  6. hye..could anyone explain about the table given?it should be more interesting if we could get some info and details regarding about it.thx.

    Mohd Ehsan Bin Chik Hisham
    CE082151
    m_ehsan55@yahoo.com

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  7. A lot of us definitely will be wondering what is all the things in the picture... Good info for everyone. 1 thing i dun understand is how the steam generator works in a nuclear reactor? And why some reactor dont even have 1...? Will google it later for sure... Does different types of generator have different elements for it to work? Is it specific? Or anything can be used? By the way, the efficiency of the reactors are really quite high. New generation higher effiency? Hopefully... We will definitely have a better world to live in if everyone is working their best.


    Ang Jit Yong (ME083530)
    aplox3@hotmail.com

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  8. hi..actually i really dn't understand about 4 major type of nuclear reactor..maybe later u can explain more about each type of reactor..tq.

    wan khairi hakimi bin wan abdul aziz
    ce083464
    wankhairi_90@yahoo.com

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  9. hi....
    the diagram is very complicated. i would like to learn more about types of reactors.

    naderaj
    (me086092)

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  10. hi,
    water is needed for cooling in the PWR and ABWR reactors....does this mean that the plant will be built near the sea or river.? If it does ..How about Tsunami and Floods??

    Leon Kacisau
    me084603

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  11. In the Nuclear reactors which are available today are categorized in to almost 4 major types of reactors....in the given table details showed are clear.but i have my doubt on the column plant efficiency ?some are stated as 37 and 35 ..what does it mean by plant efficiency.?

    KUMARAN A/L SOMASUNDRAM
    ME083565
    kmrn_siva@yahoo.com

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  12. " In the Nuclear reactors which are available today are categorized in to almost 4 major types of reactors. Which are; the most comment reactor the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR). Next is the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor.(ABWR). Other than that there is the Advance Gas Cooled reactor (AGR). Then finally we have the Presurized Heavy Water Reactor or simply the CANDU Reactor."

    My question is.How does the country that use nuclear power choose their reactor?over what characteristic?

    Nor Shakinah Awang Raiman
    me084046
    ji_na90@yahoo.com

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  13. haii... nuclear energy can generate more power than what our cntry have now. a lot of power can be supply when these tcnology use in Malaysia.
    ALIF AHNAF BIN OMAR
    ME084145
    alip04macro@gmail.com

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  14. Hey there. I took my time to understand the table but in the end still fail to do so. Out of the four types of reactor, which is more applicable to our country, Malaysia? Which is more efficient? And since most of the reactors use water, can you explain more in your upcoming post about how water is being used in those reactors?

    Thank You.

    LIM CHEE KEONG (ME 083567)
    eric9090@hotmail.com

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  15. salam!!
    by using dis method,i belive it could give a lot problem to the greenhouse effect..this because the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR). Next is the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor.(ABWR)are getting hot fast..so in my opinion its better 2 buld it near a seas or river n cover d place wif a big mountion to prevent any natural disasters..tq..

    Zaakir Hussein B. Md Yassim
    Me083675
    zaakir_52@yahoo.com.my

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  16. hye.

    How do they choose which type of reactors they want to use?Base on what factor(s) ?

    Azran Shariman Hasshim
    ME083886
    azran5573@yahoo.com

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  18. What are the differences between those 4 major reactor types????which one is the most powerful reactor???

    Amirul Hafez Bin Darobi
    Me084047
    apeh90@yahoo.com

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  19. the article only introduce the type of reactors, not including how the reactors work, the advantages and disadvantages of each reactor and which one is the best use for generating power....

    muhammad fadlullah bin amram
    zanyzeal_09@yahoo.com

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  20. There is a possible impediment to production of nuclear power plants as only a few companies worldwide have the capacity to forge single-piece reactor pressure vessels,[108] which are necessary in most reactor designs.

    ravindran a/l navalan
    ME083947

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  21. everyone keep asking for the same question.. "what are the specs of all 4 types of latest reactor?".. maybe in the article itself, should discuss more on the specs, pro and contras.. then, we can decide the best reactor among the 4 latest technology..

    khairul azzam mazlan
    me083561
    whizz42243_kid@hotmail.com

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  22. I dont really get the part "Generation IV reactors which can produce hydrogen as the its by product".
    What does hydrogen really relates with producing electricity? I need some more details about that.

    Muhammad Naqib
    ME084003
    naqib.roslan@yahoo.com

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  23. the Generation IV reactors sound really promising. hopefully we can produce such reactors sooner rather than later.

    Aliff Amiru Bin Wahab
    ME084105
    rapidoz@msn.com

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  24. Hello..
    I'm attracted with your post, but i need some explanation about the 4 reactor.
    1. Can you give the details in your next post??
    2. Which one is the best for Malaysia?
    3. What is the characteristics to choose the best reactor to be installed?
    Thank you
    Muhammad Rafiuddin
    ME083600

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  25. Thanks for the useful article on types of reactors and options.But can you please explain what is the difference between the 4 major types of the reactor today.and the complication in the table which is not that clear.Good job seniors.Keep it up..
    thank u.

    kantharrajan sandaram
    me083559
    rajan_9849@yahoo.com

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  26. Dr. Mohamad Yusof Sulaiman, a nuclear energy expert from Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) mentioned that the government should opt for the "Pressurized Water Reactor" (PWR) and not the "Advance Boiling Water Reactor" (ABWR) because PWR are safer.

    Is it true? If so, what are the reasons PWR is far safer than ABWR?

    Mohamad Fakhruddin b Suparin
    ME083579
    fakhruddin_azzahrawi@yahoo.co.jp

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  27. still waiting the advantages and disadvantages..eager to know what type of the reactor our next generation will face

    mohamad azmi b mohamad sulaiman
    me083970
    technoboyz88@yahoo.com.my

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  28. Hi guys.... we are the owner of this blog... The explanation for this post is in our latest post. Do check it out.

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  29. hello
    you had mention 4 major types of reactors. Which are Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR),Advanced Boiling Water Reactor.(ABWR),Advance Gas Cooled reactor (AGR)and the last one Presurized Heavy Water Reactor.Are all this reactor will take the equal amount of apace to build ?.And in your own opinion which type of this should fit best to our country .vimalan a/l genasan vimalan_12@yahoo.com

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  30. If you ask me i will choose the Gen 3 reactor since it's has improved fuel technology, superior thermal efficiency, passive safety systems and standardized design for reduced maintenance and capital costs. And longer operational life (60 years of operation, extendable to 120+ years of operation prior to complete overhaul and reactor pressure vessel replacement)

    vaageesan ganeesan
    macha15_swimfaster@yahoo.com

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  31. Hi Vimalan, all of these plants take up almost the same area but the parts in them would differ. For instance, the PWR needs pressurizer and the BWR doesn't need them. So there would be difference in the cost but not in the area. As for our suggestion, we would go for AP1000 and I've given the explanation for it in the post "4 types of reactors ....".

    Vaageesan, Gen 3 reactors are the ones being used currently in the world. The nuclear reactor have evolved from Gen 1 to Gen 3 now. It is said the Gen 4 reactor may co-produce hydrogen. Which could cater for the hydrogen economy and it would have more safety features but its still under conceptual phase.

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