5.

4 Nuclear Reactors and Their Classification

The heat generated in fission is removed by circulating a fluid, called 'coolant',
around the fuel and this heat is subsequently used to generate high pressure and
high temperature steam.
This is fed to a turbine-generator system to produce electricity. In reactors built
primarily for experimental purposes, the heat is discharged into the sea or a river.
Classification

Classification are:

(i) the mean energy of neutrons causing most of the fissions,

(ii) the materials used in a reactor for fuel, moderator or coolant and
their physical state,

(iii) the geometrical structure, and

(iv) the purpose for which a reactor is meant.

Classification of Reactors According to the Mean
Energy of Neutrons Causing Fission
We can be classified broadly into three types:
fast, intermediate and thermal.
In a fast reactor most of the fissions are caused by neutrons having energies of
the order of a few hundred keV,
whereas in a thermal reactor most fissions are induced by neutrons of energy
around 0.0253 eV.

In intermediate reactors the mean energy of neutrons is in the range 10-100 eV.
Intermediate reactors, sometimes also referred to as resonance reactors,
 Classification of Reactors According to the Materials Used
When reactors are classified according to the materials used for fuel,
moderator or coolant and their physical state.

• To mention a few, a thermal reactor in which graphite is used as

moderator, carbon di-oxide (a gas) as coolant and natural uranium as fuel

• ordinary water can serve both as moderator and coolant with enriched uranium as
fuel.

Similarly one can have 'heavy water reactors', 'gas cooled heavy water moderated
reactors’,
Classification of Reactors by Structure

From the point of view of their structure, thermal reactors can be further
classified as homogeneous or heterogeneous.
In a homogeneous reactor the fuel and the moderator are in the same physical
state or intimately mixed, whereas
in a heterogeneous reactor the fuel is in the form of rods or plates which are
regularly dispersed in the moderator, i.e. fuel and moderator are geometrically
separated.
 Classification of Reactors According to the Purpose
Reactors can also be classified according to the purpose for which they are
meant into the following categories:

(i) basic research,

(ii) conversion of one material into another, and

(iii) power generation.

Reactors built for basic research in various branches of science,

• for testing new reactor designs or
• new reactor components,
• for producing radio-isotopes and for medical purposes (neutron therapy) are
referred to as research reactors.
 Reactors designed to convert a fertile isotope (232Th or 238U) into a
fissile isotope (233U or 239Pu) are called 'converters’.
If the amount of newly produced fissile isotope is more than what is burnt
in maintaining the chain reaction, they are called 'breeders’.

Reactors built to produce power are referred to as power reactors.

Today most of nuclear power comes from thermal reactors based on the fission of
235U.

The major types of power reactors may be classified as follows:

 Power Reactors

Thermal Fast

Graphite Light Heavy Thermal

Moderated Water Water Breeders Liquid metal fast Gas cooled fast
gas cooled Reactors breeder reactors reactors (GCFR)
Reactors
(GCR) (PHWR) (LMFBR)
(LWR)

Pressurized Molten salt

water reactors breeder reactors
(PWR) (MSBR)

Boiling water Light water

reactors (BWR) breeder reactors
(LWBR)

Classification of reactors
 General Features

All nuclear reactors consist of the following basic components:

reactor core, reflector, reactor vessel, radiation shield, structural materials, coolant
loops and heat exchangers, etc..
In fast reactors, a blanket is also placed between the core and the reflector..

Fig 5.3 General features of a nuclear reactor

 Core
The central region of a reactor where fission takes place, resulting in the
release of energy, is known as the core.

In fast reactors it contains a nuclear fuel, a coolant, control rods and structural
materials.
In thermal reactors a moderator is also present.

An ideal fuel should have high thermal conductivity and high melting point, high
resistance to radiation damage, and be chemically inert.

Usually the fuel is in the form of a ceramic, i.e. either an oxide or a carbide or a
nitride .
 To prevent escape of fission fragments into the coolant or the moderator, as also to
protect the fissionable material from corrosion, the fuel rods are covered with some
protective material. This is known as 'cladding' or 'canning ‚ An ideal fuel clad
material would be one which is highly resistive to corrosion, a poor neutron
absorber, cheap and readily available.

It should further have good mechanical strength and high melting point.

A single cladded unit of fuel is known as the fuel element. Several such fuel
elements when put together constitute a fuel assembly or a fuel bundle.

The lattice is usually square or hexagonal in form (Fig. 5.4).

 Fig. 5.4 Arrangement of square/hexagonal reactor lattice in a core

To remove fission heat from the core , it is necessary to circulate a fluid,

which may be a liquid or a gas, through the reactor. This fluid is referred to as the
coolant. A reactor coolant should have high thermal capacity, low cost, low
neutron absorption cross section, good radiation and thermal stability, and
compatibility with fuel and clad. In fast reactors the coolant should further be a
poor moderator.
 In these reactors liquid sodium or helium is used as coolant. Sodium-potassium
alloy and liquid bismuth have also been used as coolants.
On the other hand, in thermal reactors ordinary water, steam, heavy water, carbon
dioxide, helium and some organic gases are frequently used as coolants.

To slow down neutrons born in fission, a moderator is also present in the core of
a thermal reactor. It is a material of low mass number, large scattering cross section
and small absorption cross section (A good moderator must have a large sdp and a
small absorption cross section.).
Most commonly used moderators are heavy water, light water and graphite. Fig. 5.5.

In fast reactors where no moderator is present or in reactors where the same

material is used as coolant and moderator
Fig. 5.5 Fuel-coolant-moderator arrangement in some typical reactors: (a) LWR (b)
PHWR and (c) HTGR
 To ensure safe operation of a reactor at a desired power level,
This is achieved by having some control rods (or plates) in the core.
The control rods are made of some highly neutron absorbing material

Fig 5.6 horizontal view of control rod arrangement for a BWR

'Regulating rods' are used to make fine adjustments in the power level and to
compensate for the effects of changes in temperature and pressure, fuel depletion
and build up of poisons.

'Safety rods' are provided to stop the chain reaction rapidly and are used for
an emergency shut down of a reactor in case of failure of the system.
 Blanket

In fast reactors, which are generally compact, a significant fraction of neu-

trons in the core leaks out of the system. To reduce this leakage and also to
make proper use of the leaking neutrons, core in these reactors is surround-
ed by a region of fertile material (232Th or 238U).

This region is referred to as the blanket. (This also serves as an additional

neutron reflector as well as a shield.) Neutrons absorbed in the blanket
eventually lead to the production of fissile nuclei, 233U or 239Pu.
 Reflector
A region of non-fissionable material put next to the core (or the blanket, if it
is present) to return back the neutron escaping from the core (or blanket) is known
as the reflector.
In fast reactors the material chosen is one of high mass number and low
absorption cross section.

In thermal reactors any good moderating material can be used as reflector. H2O
and D2O are themselves used as reflectors. Graphite, Be or BeO .

Reactor Vessel

The whole assembly is placed inside a vessel, called the ‘pressure vessel’.
Usually stainless steel is used to make the reactor vessel.
 Shielding
To protect the scientists and other personnel working around the reactor as well
as the equipment placed around it from radiations (both neutrons and gamma-rays)
emanating from the reactor core, the reactor vessel is encased inside thick concrete
walls.
This is referred to as the ‘biological’ shield or the 'radiation' shield.

The continuous absorption of leaking radiations by the walls of the reactor vessel as
well as in the biological shield would result in the generation of heat, causing
thermal stresses in them..

To reduce this heating effect of nuclear radiation and hence prevent radiation damage
of the pressure vessel, a 'thermal' shield, usually made of stainless steel, is placed
next to the reflector.
 Reactor Building

The entire structure, particularly when one is considering a high power reactor,
is placed inside a reactor building.
It is air tight and is maintained at a pressure slightly lower than the atmospheric
so that no air leaks out of the building, except through the ventilation channels.
 Coolant Loops. Heat Exchangers and Electric Generators

Heat generated due to fission inside the reactor core is removed by circulating a
coolant through it. Usually, the coolant circulates in a closed loop, called the
primary (or reactor core) loop.

The heated coolant carrying fission heat can become intensely radioactive when it
comes out of the core. To prevent this radioactivity from spreading, it becomes
necessary to introduce a secondary (or steam generating) loop, which may be
closed or open.
In research reactors, secondary loop is usually open so that the heat produced
inside the core is just discharged into some river or sea.
In power reactors, the secondary loop provides energy to an electric generator.

On the other hand, in fast reactors cooled by liquid sodium an intermediate cooling
loop (and hence heat exchanger) is also required.
 5.9 Efficiency

Just as for a fossil fuel plant, for a nuclear reactor also one can define efficiency.
The ratio of the electrical energy generated to the thermal energy produced,

both measured in megawatts, is referred to as the plant efficiency or thermal

efficiency and is denoted by :
Electricalenergy generated (We )
= (5.7)
Thermal energy produced (Wth )

The maximum value of  is the ideal thermodynamic efficiency, which is given

T2
by (1- ), where T1 is the temperature (in kelvin) of the steam entering the turbine
T1
and T2 is the temperature at which heat is given off to the condenser (sink).
Example 5.1
A reactor produces electrical power of 300 MW. How much U235 is burnt per day, if
the plant efficiency is 30%. Assume that 200 MeV of energy is released per fission.
Solution
From Eq. Electricalenergy generated (We )
=
Thermal energy produced (Wth )
we know that
We
=
so that Wth
We
Wth =


Here, We =300 MW and =30%. Hence,

300x100
Wth = = 103 MW
30

We know that
 107
1 W=1 j/s=107 ergs/s = -6
MeV/s =6.25x1 1012 MeV/s
1.6x10
Since one fission produces 200 MeV of thermal energy, number of fissions
per second (n) required to produce 1 W is
6.25x1012
n= = 3.12x1010
200
Therefore, to produce 1 W for one day, the number of atoms undergoing fission will
be
3.12xl010x24x3600 = 2.696x 1015
and the number of fissions required to liberate 103 MW over one day =2.696 xl024.
The number of atoms in 1 kg of 235U is
6.023x1026
= 2.563x10 24
235
Hence the amount of 235U required to produce 103 MW thermal power for one day is
2.696 x 10 24
24
= 1.05kg
2.563x10
From this we note that 1 MWth day  1 gm of 235U.