Generation III reactor
Encyclopedia
A generation III reactor is a development of any of the generation II
nuclear reactor
designs incorporating evolutionary improvements in design developed during the lifetime of the generation II reactor designs. These include improved fuel technology
, superior thermal efficiency
, passive safety systems and standardized design
for reduced maintenance and capital costs.
Improvements in reactor technology result in a longer operational life (60 years of operation, extendable to 120+ years of operation prior to complete overhaul and reactor pressure vessel replacement) compared with currently used generation II reactors (designed for 40 years of operation, extendable to 80+ years of operation prior to complete overhaul and RPV replacement). Furthermore, core damage frequencies
for these reactors are lower than for Generation II reactors — 60 core damage events per 1000 million reactor–year for the EPR
; 3 core damage events per 1000 million reactor–year for the ESBWR
significantly lower than the 10,000 core damage events per 1000 million reactor–year for BWR/4 generation II reactors.
The first generation III reactors were built in Japan, while several others have been approved for construction in Europe. A Westinghouse AP1000 reactor is scheduled to become operational in Sanmen, China in 2013.
Generation II reactor
A generation II reactor is a design classification for a nuclear reactor, and refers to the class of commercial reactors built up to the end of the 1990s...
nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
designs incorporating evolutionary improvements in design developed during the lifetime of the generation II reactor designs. These include improved fuel technology
Nuclear fuel
Nuclear fuel is a material that can be 'consumed' by fission or fusion to derive nuclear energy. Nuclear fuels are the most dense sources of energy available...
, superior thermal efficiency
Thermal efficiency
In thermodynamics, the thermal efficiency is a dimensionless performance measure of a device that uses thermal energy, such as an internal combustion engine, a boiler, a furnace, or a refrigerator for example.-Overview:...
, passive safety systems and standardized design
Design to standards
-benefits:Product standardization is a technique in engineering design that aim to reduce the number of different parts within a product. The benefits are:* lower supply chain costs* product platforms* faster product design...
for reduced maintenance and capital costs.
Improvements in reactor technology result in a longer operational life (60 years of operation, extendable to 120+ years of operation prior to complete overhaul and reactor pressure vessel replacement) compared with currently used generation II reactors (designed for 40 years of operation, extendable to 80+ years of operation prior to complete overhaul and RPV replacement). Furthermore, core damage frequencies
Core damage frequency
Core damage frequency is a term used in probabilistic risk assessment that indicates the likelihood of an accident that would cause damage to a nuclear reactor core. Core damage accidents are considered serious because damage to the core may prevent control of the nuclear reaction, which can lead...
for these reactors are lower than for Generation II reactors — 60 core damage events per 1000 million reactor–year for the EPR
European Pressurized Reactor
The EPR is a third generation pressurized water reactor design. It has been designed and developed mainly by Framatome , Electricité de France in France, and Siemens AG in Germany...
; 3 core damage events per 1000 million reactor–year for the ESBWR
Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor
The type of nuclear reactor formally known as the Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor is a passively safe generation III+ reactor derived from the predecessor Simplified Boiling Water Reactor and the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor...
significantly lower than the 10,000 core damage events per 1000 million reactor–year for BWR/4 generation II reactors.
The first generation III reactors were built in Japan, while several others have been approved for construction in Europe. A Westinghouse AP1000 reactor is scheduled to become operational in Sanmen, China in 2013.
Generation III reactors
- Advanced Boiling Water ReactorAdvanced Boiling Water ReactorThe Advanced Boiling Water Reactor is a Generation III boiling water reactor. The ABWR is currently offered by GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Toshiba...
(ABWR) — A GEGêGê are the people who spoke Ge languages of the northern South American Caribbean coast and Brazil. In Brazil the Gê were found in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Piaui, Mato Grosso, Goias, Tocantins, Maranhão, and as far south as Paraguay....
design that first went online in Japan in 1996. - Advanced Pressurized Water ReactorAdvanced Pressurized Water ReactorWestinghouse Electric Company's AP1000 reactor design is the first Generation III+ reactor to receive final design approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ....
(APWR) — developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. - Enhanced CANDU 6 (EC6) — developed by Atomic Energy of Canada LimitedAtomic Energy of Canada LimitedAtomic Energy of Canada Limited or AECL is a Canadian federal Crown corporation and Canada's largest nuclear science and technology laboratory...
. - VVERVVERThe VVER, or WWER, is a series of pressurised water reactors originally developed by the Soviet Union, and now Russia, by OKB Gidropress. Power output ranges from 440 MWe to 1200 MWe with the latest Russian development of the design...
-1000/392 (PWR) — in various modifications into AES-91 and AES-92 - Advanced Heavy Water ReactorAdvanced Heavy Water ReactorThe Advanced Heavy Water Reactor is the latest Indian design for a next generation nuclear reactor that will burn thorium in its fuel core. It is slated to form the third stage in India's 3 stage fuel cycle plan. Thorium is an element that is 3 times more abundant globally than uranium...
being developed by BARC,India to utilize Thorium.
Designs not adopted
- AP600AP600The AP600 is a model of relatively small, 600 MWe nuclear power plant designed by Westinghouse Electric Company. The AP600 has passive safety features characteristic of the Generation III reactor concept. The projected core damage frequency is nearly 1000 times less than today's NRC requirements,...
— A Westinghouse Electric CompanyWestinghouse Electric CompanyWestinghouse Electric Company LLC is a nuclear power company, offering a wide range of nuclear products and services to utilities throughout the world, including nuclear fuel, service and maintenance, instrumentation and control and advanced nuclear plant designs...
design that received final design approval from the NRCNRCNRC may refer to:Research centres and other establishments* National Research Centre, Egypt* National Research Council * Nokia Research Center* United States National Research CouncilOther educational* National Resource Center, U.S...
in 1998; the EIAEnergy Information AdministrationThe U.S. Energy Information Administration is the statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. EIA collects, analyzes, and disseminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and...
states that "Westinghouse has deemphasized the AP600 in favor of the larger, though potentially even less expensive (on a cost per kilowatt or capacity basis) AP1000 design." - System 80+System 80System 80 is a pressurized water reactor design by Combustion Engineering . Three System 80 reactors were built at Palo Verde power plant....
— a Combustion EngineeringCombustion EngineeringCombustion Engineering was an American engineering firm and leading firm in the development of power systems in the United States with approximately 30,000 employees in about a dozen states at its peak. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, C-E owned over two dozen other companies including...
(now incorporated into Westinghouse) design, which "provides a basis for the APR1400 (Generation III+) design that has been developed in KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
for future deployment and possible export."
Generation III+ reactors
Generation III+ designs offer significant improvements in safety and economics over Generation III advanced reactor designs certified by the NRC in the 1990s.- Advanced CANDU ReactorAdvanced CANDU ReactorThe Advanced CANDU Reactor is a Generation III+ nuclear reactor design and is a further development of existing CANDU reactors designed by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. The ACR is a light-water-cooled reactor that incorporates features of both Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors and Advanced...
(ACR-1000) - AP1000 — based on the AP600AP600The AP600 is a model of relatively small, 600 MWe nuclear power plant designed by Westinghouse Electric Company. The AP600 has passive safety features characteristic of the Generation III reactor concept. The projected core damage frequency is nearly 1000 times less than today's NRC requirements,...
with increased power output - European Pressurized ReactorEuropean Pressurized ReactorThe EPR is a third generation pressurized water reactor design. It has been designed and developed mainly by Framatome , Electricité de France in France, and Siemens AG in Germany...
(EPR) — an evolutionary descendant of the Framatome N4 and Siemens Power Generation DivisionSiemens AGSiemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
KONVOI reactors. - Economic Simplified Boiling Water ReactorEconomic Simplified Boiling Water ReactorThe type of nuclear reactor formally known as the Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor is a passively safe generation III+ reactor derived from the predecessor Simplified Boiling Water Reactor and the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor...
(ESBWR) — based on the ABWR - APR-1400 — an advanced PWR design evolved from the U.S. System 80+, which is the basis for the Korean Next Generation Reactor or KNGR http://world-nuclear.org/info/default.aspx?id=528
- VVERVVERThe VVER, or WWER, is a series of pressurised water reactors originally developed by the Soviet Union, and now Russia, by OKB Gidropress. Power output ranges from 440 MWe to 1200 MWe with the latest Russian development of the design...
-1200/392M (PWR) — in design of AES-2006 with mainly passive safety features - VVERVVERThe VVER, or WWER, is a series of pressurised water reactors originally developed by the Soviet Union, and now Russia, by OKB Gidropress. Power output ranges from 440 MWe to 1200 MWe with the latest Russian development of the design...
-1200/491 (PWR) — in design of AES-2006 with mainly active safety features, international sold as MIR.1200 - EU-ABWR — based on the ABWR with increased powert output and compliance with EU safety standard.
- Advanced PWR (APWR) — 4th Generation of PWRPressurized water reactorPressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...
from Mitsubishi Heavy IndustriesMitsubishi Heavy Industries, or MHI, is a Japanese company. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi Group.-History:In 1870 Yataro Iwasaki, the founder of Mitsubishi took a lease of Government-owned Nagasaki Shipyard. He named it Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works, and started the shipbuilding business on a full scale...
Generation III++ reactors
- B&W mPowerB&W mPowerThe B&W mPower is a proposed 125 MW modular, advanced light water nuclear reactor. The reactor is to be built by Babcock & Wilcox Co. in North America, and shipped by rail to generating sites. The reactor's power output is approximately 125 MWe, or approximately 10% of a typical reactor...
— an Advanced Light Water Reactor in development by Babcock and WilcoxBabcock and WilcoxThe Babcock & Wilcox Company is a U.S.-based company that provides design, engineering, manufacturing, construction and facilities management services to nuclear, renewable, fossil power, industrial and government customers worldwide. B&W's boilers supply more than 300,000 megawatts of installed...
and BechtelBechtelBechtel Corporation is the largest engineering company in the United States, ranking as the 5th-largest privately owned company in the U.S...
http://www.babcock.com/products/modular_nuclear/generation_mpower.html
External links
- Nuclear Reactors Knowledge Base, IAEA
- Advanced Nuclear Power Reactors, World Nuclear AssociationWorld Nuclear AssociationThe World Nuclear Association , formerly the Uranium Institute, is an international organization that promotes nuclear power and supports the many companies that comprise the global nuclear industry...
, May 2008