The Technology Context – B101
Nuclear Power Station - Isar 2
General Introduction
In World War II, the nuclear bombs which were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki shocked the world. About 110,000 people died and thousands more were injured. The Japanese government soon surrendered after this, the new nuclear age had begun.
Nowadays, because the Earth is running out of its own natural resources we are using up some resources like coal which releases lots of harmful greenhouse gases which are the cause of global warming. A new energy supply is therefore needed to replace the Earth’s natural resources, Nuclear power started to develop for peaceful purposes. As an electronics and electrical engineer, I have always been interested on how electricity produced from a nuclear power station and whether in the future nuclear power will be the major supply which replaces the Earth’s natural resources?
The first nuclear power station was established at a site in Idaho which was authorized by AEC (Atomic Energy Commission) and the first electricity generated from nuclear energy was on December 20, 1951.
For this project, I will look into how the nuclear station of Isar 2 (Dammstrasse 84051 Essenbach Germany) is run and how to run PWR(Pressurised Water Reactor).
Isar 2 has an electrical output of 1400 MW, and it is capable of supplying more than 1.5 million homes, it has only one nuclear reactor and it’s a PWR. PWR is the most common type of commercial reactor and it was originally developed in the USA for submarine propulsion. Nowadays, nearly 60% of the World’s commercial reactors are PWRs.
How does Isar 2 produce energy?
The first step relies on nuclear fission to make heat. Nuclear fission is a process which splits atoms and also releases the new set of neutrons and atoms. The most common material used for this process is Uranium, which will absorb the neutrons. After the absorption, its own atom structure will become unstable, therefore it will release neutrons, other types of atoms and energy, if there is a lots of Uranium together in one place, and if an neutron hits a Uranium atom, this will lead to a what is called Chain reaction, when the output of energy will be 100 times of its original energy. If sometimes the chain reaction happens too quickly, which might lead to an uncontrollable, the rod cluster control assemblies will be inserted into fission. The idea behind this is to absorb the neutrons and slow down the reaction.
Step 2, The energy created by nuclear fission is used to heat the water up and when the temperature reaches a certain point, the water will turn into steam.
Step 3, The steam will turn the turbines, there are two types of turbines, one steam and the other is water, A steam turbine consists of many blades on a long shafts, steam turning them around drives a generator. Water turbine looks like an Ammonite shell: a wheel with bucket-shaped blades around the rim . Isar 2 is a PWR, therefore it will be using steam turbines.
Step 4, the steam generator in Isar 2 is about 70 feet in height and weights about 800 tons. This machine can transform motion energy into electricity. The principle is to turn the turbine within the generator and as it reaches a certain speed, electricity can be produced.
Step 5, After electricity is produced, the transformer at the power station end will step up the voltage. The reason for this is to prevent the loses of electricity and when it has reached its destination, it will go through a transformer which is called the step down process, which turns the high voltage transmission to its original amount.
Comparision with another type of energy
Comparing nuclear power with one the most common resource, coal, highlights the following:-
Isar 2 produces 4000MW of electricity daily. 1 kilogram of uranium-235 produces 138MW of energy
4000/138 = 28.99KG = 29 KG/DAY
1KG of Uranium = $1000
Total cost for 1 day = $29000
To produce the same amount of energy from coal
1KG of coal produces 9.2000 MW
4000/9.2=434.78KG = 435KG/DAY
1KG of Coal = $76
Total cost for 1 day = 435 x 76 = $33060
The diagram below compares the advantages and disadvantages of different types of energy
From the information gathered, it would appear that nuclear energy proves to be better than most types of energy resources. However, nuclear energy suppliers need to spend more money on the safety issues. Therefore I believe in the future, as technology becomes more advanced, we will find more safer ways to use nuclear power and handle its waste, then maybe nuclear energy could play a major part in our lives.
Plan of Enquiry
- How to reduce the cost of producing electricity from nuclear power?
- Is there any way that we can reduce the amount of nuclear waste being produced during the production process?
Questionnaire
- How many people know about nuclear power?
- What do people feel about nuclear power?
- Will government spend money on nuclear power?
- Will people use nuclear power?
If I have a chance, I would like to contact Isar 2 nuclear station and ask their management team a few questions such as:
- How do people feel having an nuclear power station in their area? Do they feel safe?
- Are local government helpful with public issues?
- What has been the local media's reaction? Is there much critisism?
Secondary Research Resources
Reference
