Power Plants

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Power Plants

An electrical power plant has a nuclear reactor to produce
electricity. A nuclear reactor produces heat through nuclear
fission in which atomic muclei break apart releasing large amounts
of energy. In the core of the reactor, a self-sustaining
nuclear reaction takes place.
The power level of an operating reactor is monitored by a variety
of thermal, flow, and nuclear instruments. Power output is controlled
by inserting or removing from the core a group of netron-absorbing control
rods. The position of these rods determines the power level at which
the chain reaction is just self-sustaining.
In the pressurized water reactor, the water collant operates at a pressure
150 atmospheres. It is pumped through the reactor core, where it is heated
to about 620oF. The superheated water is pumped through a steam generator
where, through heat exchangers, a secondary loop of water is heated and
converted to steam. The steam drives turbine generators, is condensed back to
water, and pumped back to the steam generator. The secondary loop is isolated
from the reactor core water and, therefore is not radioactive. A third stream of
water from a cooling tower is used to condense the steam. The reactor
pressure vessels are 49 feet high and 16.4 feet in diameter, with walls 10 in.
thick.The core houses some 82 metric tons of uranium oxide contained in the
corrosion-resistant tubes. Finally generators produce electricity which is
delivered to a power grid by transmission...

Submitted by: digitalessays
Date Submitted: 05-04-2004
Category: Miscellaneous
Words: 319
Pages: 1.28