ED 107 522.

AUTHORTITLEINSTITUTION

PUB DATENOTEAVAILABLE FROM

EDRS PRICEDESCRIPTORS

IDENTIFIERS

DOCUMENT RESUME

SE 019 211

Lyerly, Ray L.; Mitchell, Walter, IIINuclear Power Plants*. Revised.Atomic Energy Commission, Washington, D. C. Office ofInformation Services.736 2p.

USAEC Technical Information Center, P.O. Box 62, OakRidge, TN 37830

MF-$0.76 HC-$3.32 PLUS POSTAGEEconomics; Electricity; *Energy; *Nuclear Physics;Physics; Radiatidn; Scientific Research;*UtilitiesAEC; Atomic Energy Commission; Nuclear Reactors;*Power Plants

ABSTRACTThis publication is one of a series of information

booklets for the general public published by the United States AtomicEnergy Commission. Among the topics discu3sed are: Why Use NuclearPower?; From Atoms to Electricity; Reactor Types; Typical PlantDesign Features; The Cost of Nuclear Power; Plants in the UnitedStates; Developments in Foreign Countries; and The Last Word. A listof suggested references, including books, reports, articles, andmotion pictures, is included. School and public libraries may obtaina complete set of booklet without charge. (BT)

NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH.EDUCATION iv/El-PARENATIONAL INSTITUTE OF

EDUCATIONTNIS CIOCUPENT NAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROMTHE PE RSONOR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONSSTATED 00 NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OrEOUCATION POSITION OR POLICY

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by Ray L. Lyerly and Walter Mitchell, I l l

211111Er. Ri

1 e.0 2 United States Energy Research,15 R and Development Administration

fys' ,.i 0 Technical Information Center

This is made available by

ERDA

Nuclear energy is playing a vital role inthe life of every man, woman, and child in theUnited States today. In the years ahead it willaffect increasingly all the peoples of the earth.It is essential that all Americans gain anunderstanding of this vital force if they are todischarge thoughtfully their responsibilities ascitizens and if they are to realize fully themyriad benefits that nuclear energy offersthem.

The United-States Atomic Energy com-mission provides this booklet to help youachieve such understanding.

stlit24111___1_ THE COVER

The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Sta-tion near San Clemente, California, oneof the new generation of nuclear powerplants, with an electrical capacity of-130,000 kilowatts. It began commercialoperation in 1967. (See page 40.)

,43

NUCLEAR POWER PLANTSby Ray L. Lyerly and Walter Mitchell, I I I

CONTENTS

WHY USE NUCLEAR POWER? 1

FROM ATOMS TO ELECTRICITY 3REACTOR TYPES 5

Boiling-Water Reactors 7

PressurizedWater Reactors 8Gas-Cooled Reactors 9

Heavy-Water Reactors 1.1

Breeder Reactors 12

TYPICAL PLANT DESIGN FEATURES 15The Reactor Vessel 17The Core 18The Primary Coolant System 21

The Overall Plant 21

THE COST OF NUCLEAR POWER 24PLANTS IN THE UNITED STATES 27DEVELOPMENTS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES 44

Canada 44Great Britain 45France 46Japan 47Soviet Union 48West Germany 49Other Countries 50

THE LAST WORD 51SUGGESTED REFERENCES 52

UNITED STATES ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSIONOffice of Information Services

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 67.601991967; 1973 (rev.)

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AR POWER PLANTS

By RAY L. LYERLY andWALTER MITCHELL, III

WHY USE NUCLEAR POWER?

Millions of Americans use electricity derived fromatomic energy. Millions more of us will light our homesand power our appliances with electricity from nuclear,plants that are now being built. And in the future we, andthe other peoples of the world, undoubtedly will find thatnuclear energy is the source of a large portion of ourelectric power.

What is behind this pattern of change? Why have weentered an era in which nuclear power plants unknown arelatively few years agoare a commercial reality, pro-viding guaranteed performance at attractive cost? Toanswer these questions we must look to the future as wellas the present.

In our growing world, our energy needs are growingeven faster than our population. Projected energy require-ments for the future suggest strongly that we must employatomic energy to generate electric power or face depletionof our fossil-fuel resourcescoal, oil, and gas. In short,both conservation and economic considerations will re-quire us to use nuclear energy to generate the electricitythat supports our civilization.

0 1

Until we reach the time when nuclear power plants areas common as fossil-fueled or hydroelectric plants, manypeople will wonder how the nuclear plants work, how muchthey cost, where they are located, and what kinds of re-actors they use. The purpose of this booklet is to answerthese questions. In doing so, it will consider only centralstation plants,,_ which are those that provide electric powerfor established utility systems.

2 1

FROM ATOMS TO ELECTRICITY

A nuclear power plant is similar to a conventionalthermal power plant: Each type uses steam to drive aturbine generator that produces electricity. The heat energyof the steam is converted to mechanical energy in theturbine, and the generator then converts the mechanicalenergy into electrical energy, or electricity. Although theturbine functions equally well no matter where the steamcomes from, the origin of the steam is important to us,for it is here that nuclear and conventional plants differ.

How is steam produced? Well, conventional plants burncoal, oil, or gas, and heat from the combustion of thesefossil fuels boils water to make steam. In nuclear plants,on the other hand, no burning or combustion takes place.Nuclear fission is used instead. The fission reaction gen-erates heat, and this heat is transferred, sometimesindirectly, to the water that produces the steam. Conse-quently, it can be said that the fission reaction in a nuclearplant serves the same purpose the generation of heatas the burning of a fossil fuel in a conventional plant. Wewill take a look at nuclear reactor systems a little later,but first we should review the fission reaction.

The fission process requires a particular kind of heavyelement, such as uranium or plutonium, as a basic ma-terial. Let us consider uranium. Natural uranium is amixture of three isotopes, atomic forms that are chemi-cally alike but vary in mass. An atom of one of theseisotopes, uranium-235, can readily undergo fission when afree neutron (an energetic subatomic particle) strikes itsheavy central nucleus. The nucleus breaks into two piecesthat fly apart at high speed; in addition, two or three new

3

neutrons are released, as illustrated in Figure 1. Thekinetic energy of the flying fission fragments is convertedto heat when they collide with surrounding atoms, and thereleased neutrons cause a chain reaction by initiating newfissions in other 235U atoms. .

0Neutron

Fission/ fragment

/Nucleus / ,,,,,0

--0 Free

neutrons

Fission

fragment

Figure 1 A typicalfission reaction.

Sustaining the chain reaction is important because morethan 30 billion fissions must occur in one second to re-lease each watt of energy. If the chain reaction is to beuseful, the fissions must occur at a desired rate, and theheat that is generated by the process must be removed.The job of the nuclear reactor, then, is to provide anenvironment in which fission reactions can be initiated,sustained, and controlled, and to make possible recoveryof the resultant heat.*

The essential components of a reactor are:the fuel, which fissions to produce neutrons and torelease energy;the control elements, which are used to set the energyrelease rate; andthe cooling fluid, which removes the heat generatedin the reactor.

Some of the relationships between reactors and theactual production of steam are illustrated in the nextsection, which describes some common nuclear steam-supply systems.

*For more about fission and the operation of reactors, see OurAtomic World and Nuclear Reactors, other booklets in this series.

4 Qcl

REACTOR TYPES

If you went into an appliance-store and told a salesman,"I'm interested in buying a coffeepot", he would probablyask, ''What kind?" Depending on your reply, you might beshown a percolator, a drip pot, or some other sort ofcoffee maker: Each type brews coffee, but each does it ina different way. Reactors, of course, aren't coffeepots,but reactors do have a common productheat----and theydo come in several types.

Before we consider the differences in reactors, let'stake a moment to consider something that has a bearingon the development of nuclear power plants in our country.This is the fact that our nuclear fuel resources are notunlimited. It is obvious that nuclear power plants wouldnot have much of a future if they used up the available fuelin a relatively short time.

What is not so obvious is that among the different typesof nuclear reactors there are wide differences in theirnet consumption of nuclear fuel. On one end of the scale,there are reactors that have a high net fuel consumption;these are used in most of the commercial nuclear powerplants operating in the United States today. Next, comereactors with a low, but positive, netfuel consumption. Theultimate reactors, insofar as fuel conservation is con-cerned, are those that have a negative net fuel consumption,which means that they produce more fuel than they use.*These are known as breeder reactors and will be popularfor central station nuclear power plants that begin opera-tion in, say, 10 or 20 years. The breeding principle has

*Actually, they produce new fissionable material that can beprocessed for use as fuel.

5

proved workable, and economically attractive reactorsmust now be developed so that breeder plants can bebuilt.*

In the descriptions that follow, we will note the relativefuel consumption of each type. What we will see for eachis actually the nuclear steam-supply systemthat is, thecomponents used to produce steam for the power-generatingportion of the plant, shown in Figure 2. In this portion,steam passes through the turbine and imparts energy inthe form of rotary motion to the turbine shaft. The shaftturns the generator rotor and produces electric power.

Steam --0.

Water -4

Figure 2 The power-generaling portion of a nuclear power plant.

When the "spent" steam leaves the turbine, it enters thecondenser, passes over cooling tubes, and is turned backinto water. This water is pumped back to the nuclearsteam-supply system, where the cycle starts all over againwith conversion of the water to high-pressure, high-temperature steam. Figure 2 shows the most commonmethod of cooling: Pumping cool water through the con-denser tubes and back to the source (river, lake, or someother large body of water).

For a more detailed discUssion of fuel and its use in reactors,see Atomic Fuel, a companion booklet in this series.

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The basic components of the power-generating portionof a nuclear power plant are the same regardless of thekind of reactor supplying the heat.

Boiling-Water Reactors

The name of this one tells the story. As shown inFigure 3, water enters the reactor and is heated as itpasses up between the elements of nuclear fuel. Soonsteam collects in the upper portion of the reactor andleaves through an outlet pipe. The pipes identified as"steam" and "water" would be connected to those similarlylabeled in Figure 2 to form a complete power plant.

Figure 3 Nuclear steam-supplycomponents in a boiling-waterreactor.

The water and steam in a typical boiling-water reactorare kept at a pressure of 1000 pounds per square inch(psi); this is equivalent to the pressure at a depth of aboutone-half mile beneath the surface of the sea. The pres-sure raises the boiling point of the reactor water to ahigh value, so that when steam is produced, its tempera-ture and pressure are great enough for efficient use in theturbine.

As you know, the steam from a pot of boiling water on akitchen stove has a temperature of 212°F. Steam at thattemperature has too low an energy value for use in aturbine. In order to increase the energy, the steam tem-perature must be raised. In a reactor, this is done byoperating it at high pressure. The principle is similar tothat of a pressure cooker, which cooks food faster because

7

it gets hotter. At the typical boiling-water reactor pressureof 1000 psi, the temperature of the steam is about 545' F.

A nuclear steam-supply system based on a boiling-waterreactor may appear relatively simple compared with someof the systems discussed and illustrated on the followingpages. While the boiling-water system has only a fewprincipal components, these are much larger than those ina pressurized-water system, for example. A central sta-tion nuclear power plant with an electrical output of around800,000 kilowatts requires a boiling -water reactor vessel(the container that holds the nuclear fuel) about 70 feethigh by 20 feet in diameter. A pressurized-water re-actor vessel for a plant of the same capacity is only about40 feet high by 16 feet in diameter. However, there aresome additional large components in the pressurized-watersystem. so things come out about even on an overallcomponent weight basis.

Boiling-water reactors have been. built and improvedover the years, and today they are sold on a commercialbasis in the United States. Their net nuclear fuel con-sumption is high, like that of pressurized-water reactors,which we will discuss now.

Pressurized-Water Reactors

A pressurized-water reactor operates at conditionsunder which the water passing through the reactor doesnot boil. Pressure in the reactor and the piping loop con-nected to it (see Figure 4) is about 2250 psi, or more thantwice that in a boiling-water reactor. This very high pres-sure permits the water to be heated to 600` F withoutboiling. The heated water goes to a steam generator that,as the name implies, makes the steam that drives theturbine.

In the steam generator, the hot reactor water passesthrough tubes that are surrounded by water from theturbine portion of the plant; this water is at a pressurewell below that of the reactor water system. The tubescontaining hot reactor water heat the surrounding waterand make steam, which goes to the turbine at a tempera-ture of about 500°F. The reactor water leaving the steam

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generator has been cooled by giving up some of its heat,so it is pumped through the reactor to be heated again andstart another cycle.

Figure 4 Nuclear steam-supplycomponents in a pressurized-water reactor.

Steam genera tor

Reactor

W3 ter

As you can see, a nuclear steam supply that uses apressurized-water reactor consists of two separate watersystems that meet in the steam generator. The water inone system does not mix with that in the other, but heat istransferred from the reactor system to the steam systeni.

More information on pressurized-water reactors is givenin the next section.

Gas-Cooled Reactors

The schematic diagram for a gas-cooled reactor inFigure 5 bears a strong resemblance to the diagram for apressurized-water reactor. The principle of operation isthe same for both types: A working fluid transports heatfrom the reactor to the steam generator, where the heatmakes steam for the turbine.

In a gas-cooled reactor, the working fluid is a gas,usually helium or carbon dioxide. The gas, at a pressureof a few hundred psi, is circulated through the reactor,the piping, and the steam generator by a blower (fan).The blower is an impressive piece of machinery, by theway. The energy required to drive the blowers (therewould be several) for the reactor of an 800,000-kilowattpower plant would operate 400,000 20-inch window fanslike those used in homes.

9

The material identified in Figure 5 as "moderator" hasnot been discussed before. The moderator is a substanceput in a reactor to slow the neutrons and increase theireffectiveness in causing fissions. In water-cooled reactorsit is not necessary to add solid moderator components,

Moderator

--1. Steam

Steam

generator

Fuel

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Figure 5 N it clear steam-supply c o m po neals in agas-cooled reactor.

6-- Water

because the cooling water serves this purpose. Gas isn'ta very good moderator, however, so in gas-cooled reactorsa special material, usually graphite, is built in.

Graphite is a natural choice because it can withstand thevery high temperatures that exist in gas-cooled reactors(in some, the gas is heated to nearly 1400°F). The highoperating temperatures are put to good use. Steam as hotas about 1000°F is produced; at this temperature and atthe high pressure that goes with it, the steam can drive avery efficient turbine.

In addition to its high-temperature performance, a gas-cooled reactor has the desirable characteristic of low netfuel consumption; very advanced models, in fact, may beable to produce more fuel than they consume. But, alas,all is not good. There are disadvantages, too. Principalamong these is the relatively large-size reactor neededfor a given rate of heat generation. Gas, unfortunately,just doesn't remove heat very well. Consequently, the rateof heat generation per unit volume of reactor must befairly low to match the relatively poor heat-removalcapability of the gas.

10A; ..1:7'

Heavy-Water Reactors

In most respects, heavy water (D20) is like ordinarywater (H2O). (In the formula D20, the D stands for deu-terium, a heavy isotope of hydrogen.) It's really not veryheavy (heavy water doesn't feel any heavier, if you hold abottle of it, than ordinary water), but the presence ofdeuterium instead of ordinary hydrogen in a reactor haspronounced and desirable nuclear effects. There are alsosome pretty strong effects on economics, since D20 costsaround $28.50 per pound.

Heavy water is usually used in tube type reactors, inwhich the nuclear fuel is positioned inside process tubesthat penetrate a tank. The tank contains the heavy water,which surrounds the fuel-containing tubes and acts as amoderator, much as graphite does in gas-cooled reactors.The fuel is in a form that does not occupy all the space inthe process tubes, so there is room for a cooling fluid toflow along the fuel elements and remove the heat that isgenerated. Figure 6 shows the general arrangement of aheavy-water reactor.

Tank

Heavy

water

Fuel

Steam

Steam generator

Figure 6 N u c le a r steam-supplyco»tponents in a heavy- realer re-actor.

Pump

Water

Any of several cooling fluidsorganic compounds, gas,water, or heavy water can be used in heavy-water re-actors, since the heavy-water moderator is separatedfrom the cooling fluid by the walls of the process tubes.

11

Temperatures in heavy-water reactors depend upon the kindof c..01"ng fluid used, among other things, but steam hotterthan 71/1; F can be produced.

In terms of nuclear fuel utilization, the heavy-waterreactor is an interim type: Its net fuel consumption isquite low and it can operate on natural uranium, whichmakes it attractive to use in some countries during theperiod in which designs for economical breeder reactorsare being developed.

Breeder ReactorsSeveral reactors have a potential for breedingthat is,

for producing more nuclear fuel than they consumebe-cause of the materials. or combinations of materials, thatare used to build them.

How does a breeder work? As you recall, a uranium-235atom can fission when its nucleus absorbs a neutron. Thefission reaction releases free neutrons (see Figure 1) thatmay. in turn, initiate other fissions. All the neutrons re-leased, however, are not absorbed by fissionable material;some are absorbed in the structural material of thereactor, the control elements, or the coolant; some escapefrom the reactor and are absorbed by shielding; and someare absorbed by jurlile material. When the nucleus of anatom of fertile material absorbs a neutron, the fertileatom can be transformed into an atom of a fisionablemalertal the substance that forms the basis for thenuclear chain reaction. By careful selection and arrange-ment of materials in the reactorincluding, of course,fissionable and fertile isotopesthe neutrons not neededto sustain the fission chain reaction can fairly effectivelyconvert fertile material into fissionable material. Thebreeder reactor improves the efficiency of the neutronprocess both by increasing the number of free neutronsreleased in fission and by decreasing the, number of neu-trons wasted, thereby making a larger number availablefor absorption in fertile material. If, for each atom offissionable material that is consumed, more than one atomof fertile material becomes fissionable material, the reac-tor is said to be breeding. One fertile material is uranium-238, which is always found in nature with fissionable

12

uranium-235. When uranium-238 absorbs neutrons it isconverted to fissionable plutomum-239. Another fertilematerial is thorium-232, which can be converted to fis-sionable uranium-233.

Some of the reactors that are poNsath breeders may notprove capable of breeding in actual practice, but one typehas already operated successfully in several plants. Thisis the liquid-metal-cooled breeder reactor shown in Figure 7.

Fuel

Reactor

Heat

exchanges

Pump

Pump

Steam

Steam generator

Water

Figure 7 NticlGar cumputictil,5 ot a Itgaid-mclal-cooledbreeder reactor.

Systems and components for the breeder differ fromthose for other types of reactors. One item we haven't seenin the diagrams for other reactors is an intermediate heat-transfer loop between the reactor coolant system and theturbine water-steam system. Both the primary reactorcoolant system and the intermediate loop use liquid metalbecause it has excellent heat-transfer and nuclear charac-teristics; the metal is usually sodium. Incidentally, theidea of a liquid metal should not be startling, for mercury,a substance familiar to everyone, is a liquid metal.

The liquid metal in the reactor is heated to about10Q0' F, and then goes to the heat exchanger, where ittransfers its heat to the liquid metal of the intermediateloop. The metal in the intermediate loop moves to thesteam generator, where it heats water to produce steamat about 900` F.

13

Like other coolants, liquid metal has some desirable andsome undesirable features. It is good because it does anexcellent job of neutron conservation and of removing heatand does not have to be used at high pressure to attainhigh temperatures. The fuel in a liquid-metal-cooledbreeder reactor can be operated at very high-powerdensities because the heat can be removed rather handily.To put it another way, the heat for a power plant of a givencapacity can be supplied by a liquid-metal-cooled breederreactor that is much smaller than any other reactor thatcould do the job.

One of the undesirable features about liquid metal is itstendency to react chemically. For example, there is astrong reaction whenever liquid metal comes in contactwith water or steam, and if a leak occurs in a steamgenerator that contains liquid metal an intense reactionresults. To isolate the reactor from any possible difficulty,liquid-metal-cooled reactors are provided with the inter-mediate heat-transfer loop. This extra loop, of course,adds to the cost of the plant.

We have now taken a quick tour through the commonreactor systems and have noted a few characteristics ofeach. In the next section, we will explore one kind ofnuclear power plant in detail.

14

TYPICAL PLANT DESIGN FEATURES

If you want to know more about the sizes, shapes, fea-tures, and relationE:ups of components in a nuclear powerplant, then this section is for you.

We will look closely at a plant typical of some beingbought and built by utility companies today. The choice ofa reactor for our "typical" plant is an arbitrary one: Ituses a pressurized-water reactor, but other reactor types,equally successful, might have been chosen, as they haveby many utilities. Our plant will produce about 800,000 kilo-watts of electric power and will have taken around 4 yearsto construct.

A flow diagram for our installation is shown in Figure 8;this diagram is basically a combination of Figures 2 and 4.Although only one reactor coolant loop is shown for sim-plicity, numbers indicate where two other parallel loopsbegin and end. A reactor of this size requires more thanone primary loop principally because of limitations in thecapacities of pumps and steam generators.

The parallel steam pipes from the three steam gen-erators are joined into a single, larger pipe that is con-nected to the high-pressure turbine. The steam flows intothe turbine and gives up some of its energy to turn ashaft; it cools, drops in pressure, and forms some mois-ture. Leaving the high-pressure turbine, the steam passesthrough a moisture separator and enters the low-pressureturbine. Here the steam pressure drops still more, im-parting additional energy to the shaft. The shaft turns thegenerator, which produces the electric power.

The steamits usable energy by now pretty well ex-haustedmoves on to the condenser, where cooling pipes

15

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turn it into water. In the process, the pressure is loweredto less than atmospheric pressure. The water (calledcondensate) formed in the condenser, is pumped througha heater and partially preheated. By this time, the wateris called feed water because it is used to "feed" the steamgenerators: before entering the steam generators, how-ever, it is pumped through another heater. The preheatingimproves the efficiency of the plant. Several heatersusually are used, but, for simplicity, only two are shownhere.

To pump the water from the condenser through theheaters and into the steam generators, its pressure mustbe raised from less than 14.7 psi (atmospheric pressureat sea level) to abcat 800 psi. More tin!: one pump isneeded for this, and two are shown here. The pipe leavingthe last feed-water heater branches into parallel pipes sothat feed water is supplied to the steam generator in eachparallel reactor loop.

Thus, we can make a general statement that the parallelloops of the nuclear steam-supply system furnish steamto a single-loop, power-generating system, although thereare exceptions to this design in industry.

Considering the primary, or reactor, coolant systemagain, note that each loop has its own pipes from the re-actor, but that usually only one pressurizer and one waterpurification system are provided. The pressurizer, as itsname indicates, keeps the reactor system at the properpressure. The purification system continuously removesimpurities from the water. .

Keep the flow paths in Figure 8 in mind as we turn nowto some individual components of a nuclear power plant.

The Reactor Vessel

The reactor is the furnace of the plantthe concentratedsource of the tremendous amount of heat that is con-verted to electric power. Figure 9 shows a vertical cross-section through a reactor pressure vessel and the ar-rangement of basic reactor components. The steel vessel,its walls around a foot thick, is designed to contain waterat an operating pressure of 2250 psi, with inlet and outlettemperatures of about 550° F and 600° F, respectively.

17

The vessel weighs about 1 million pounds empty, and morethan half again as much when full of water and with thecore installed.

The vessel, about 40 feet high with an outside diameterof 16 feet. has the function of enclosing the reactor core,

Pressure

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r

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which is composed of fuel elements and control rods. Thecool-water connections of some vessels are at the samelevel as the hot-water connections; this arrangement is adesign variation on the typical vessel shown here. Internalbaffles direct the cool water to the bottom of the vessel sothat it can then flow up through the reactor core.

When the reactor is not operating, the top, or head, maybe removed for access to the core. Figure 9 shows how thehead is bolted to the main part of the vessel, and Figure 10shows a head being installed. The photograph shows theholes for the bolts, the drive shafts for the control rods,and, at the top of the vessel head, the control-rod drivemechanisms.

Figure 9 Vertical crosssection view of apressurized-water re-actor vessel.

The Core

The heart of our nuclear power plant is the nuclearfuel a ceramic material called uranium dioxide (UO2) .

18

Figure 10 Reactor vess e Ihead being installed al anuclear power plant.

The UO2 is enclosed in sealed tubes a little less than ahalf inch in diameter and about 12 feet long. These tubes

are made of Zircaloy, which is an alloy of the metalzirconium. About 200 of these tubes are arranged in asquare pattern to form a fuel assembly (see Figure 11).The tubes in each assembly are close together but do nottouch. They are held apart by egg-crate-like spacer gridsso that the cooling water can flow along them and remove

their heat.Each fuel assembly in our reactor example is 8 inches

square by 12 feet long and weighs 1300 pounds (UO2 is

almost as heavy as lead). Our reactor core contains about

200 fuel assemblies, and there are passages for control

rods in the assemblies. The core is nearly 12 feet across,and the square assemblies are arranged so that from the

top the core looks circular.The heat-generation rate of the core is determined by

movable control rod assemblies, which can be moved up or

down so that they leave or enter the region of the nuclear

fuel. The rods contain material that acts as a brakeon thechain reaction; that is, when a rod is in the core it absorbsneutrons and prevents them from causing fissions. Bymoving the rod assembliesthere may be as many as 90

of themin or out of the core, the heat-generation rate

; 1r-,..4.... 19

Figure 12 Lowering afuel assembly into areaclor core.

20

Figure 11 A fuel assem-bly for a nuclear powerplant.

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can be decreased or increased so that the plant producesthe desired amount of electric power.

The Primary Coolant SystemThe primary coolant system consists of stainless steel

piping and other components that contain the cooling water.Remember that large reactors use several primary coolantloops that operate in parallel. A lot of water flows throughthe reactoraround 2 million pounds (330,000 gallons) perminuteequivalent to the flow 1..Jni over 100,000 gardenhoses. (Reactor temperature and pressure cause the waterto weigh approximately 6 pounds per guilon.) Each loopcarries a portion of the total flow, and each has a steamgenerator and a pump. Some reactors have two pipes andtwo pumps between the outlet of each steam generator andthe inlet to the reactor vessel.

The steam generators are 10 or 15 feet in diameter,about 60 feet high, and weigh, roughly half a million pounds.Water flowing through tubes inside heats the surroundingfeed water, producing steam with a pressure of 800 psi anda temperature of 520°F. The steam generators deliveraround 10 million pounds (51/2 million cubic feet) of steamper hour to the turbine.

A primary coolant pump, driven by an electric motorrated at several thousand horsepower, raises the coolantpressure about 100 psi for another trip through the reac-tor. piping, and steam generator.

In an actual installation, the primary coolant loops arearranged around the reactor as in Figure 13, which showsthe "nuclear" pieces in a nuclear power plant. The rest ofthe installation is identical with any other generating sta-tion and we needn't discuss its details.

The Overall PlantOur plant's central control room, with appropriate

instruments, switches, indicators, and controllers for thenuclear steam-supply system and the power-generatingsystem, looks about like the control room in any largeindustrial plant, except for some instruments that indicateor record conditions in the reactor. This reactor instru-mentation replaces the boiler instrumentation of a con-

t.: 4 k"-"` 21

ventional power plant. Control-room personnel who operatethe plant are highly qualified. having received extensivetraining and having passed comprehensive examinations toobtain the required licenses.

When you see an exterior view of a nuclear plant, youmay wonder which pieces go in which building. Figure 15shows the location of components in a pressurized-waterplant. with "nuclear" components inside a leaktight steelor concrete containment building (the vertical cylinder witha dome top in the figure). A containment building actuallycan have any one of several different shapes, and in someplants no containment feature may be visible at all. In thenewer plants that use boiling-water reactors, for example,containment is provided, but it doesn't show.

The power-generating components are housed in a typi-cal industrial structure called a turbine building. One moreconventional structure is the plant "ventilation stack". In

Figure 13 Cutaway Licit of a nuclear steam-supply system based ona pressurized-water reactor. Note size of man entering door atright.

Figure 14

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23

THE COST OF NUCLEAR POWER

Beginning about 1965, nuclear power plants becameeconomically competitive with conventional steam powerplants in many sections of the United States and the rest ofthe world.A utility company spends money on two principal items

in order to generate electricity for its customers. Thefirst is the power plant itself, and the second is the fuelthat the plant consumes. At present, it costs more tobuild a nuclear plant than it does to build a conventionalplant. This, however, is only half the story because thefuel costs for the nuclear plant are lower. Consequently,in locations where fossil-fuel costs are fairly high (gen-erally areas some distance from coal mines or gas andoil fields), a utility may save money by "going nuclear"when it expands. Companies buying nuclear power plantstoday can expect their investment to be divided as shownin Figure 16.

The competitive position that nuclear power holds todayhas been attah:d in a remarkably short time. Only tenyears ago, it was very, expensive to obtain usable electricpower from atomic energy. The rapid change in the eco-nomic position of this important energy resource is aresult of the combined efforts of government and industry.In order to speed the development of nuclear technology,and thus assure that the energy resources of our countrycan be used to meet our power requirements, the U. S.Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) for many years hassponsored research work and supported projects aimed atdemonstrating the performance and costs of different typesof nuclear power plants.

24

Probably the most significant program began in 1955,when the AEC announced the Power Reactor DemonstrationProgram, under which it invited utilities and the manu-facturing industry to participate in nuclear power plant

/---------------

(Plant Cost 75%Operation 1095

.0

Fuel 15%

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Figure 16 Where the money goes in a nuclear power plan!.

demonstration projects. The terms of the program differfrom project to project but are based on a sharing of costsby the AEC and the participating organizations. As a resultof the program, more than 15 projects have been under-taken. The experience gained in designing, constructingand operating plants under the Power Reactor Demonstra-tion Program has played an important part in the develop-ment of today's commercial nuclear power plants.

Many factors affect the cost of a nuclear power plant andthe electric power it produces. For example, the size ofthe plant has an influence on the cost per unit of electricity:the larger the plant, the cheaper the power. Wages and ma-terials costs differ substantially from region to region, asdo taxes, the prices of land, and other items. An importantfactor is the length of time required to build the plant, forduring the construction period costs cscalalc. Let's talkabout escalation for a moment, assuming that the year is1973. The typical nuclear plant described in the precedingsection would cost about 5400 per kilowatt of capacity tobuild, the owner paid cash for the plant and it were pos-sible to erect it overnight. That isn't the way things go,however, for utilities finance their plants and around eight

25

years elapse between the time a nuclear plant is orderedand the time it goes into operation. The time is requiredfor obtaining necessary permits and licenses, for actual

'construction, and for pre-operational testing. During thoseeight years, wages of workers increase, prices of equip-ment go up, and the utility pays interest, on the money it hasborrowed to build the plant. The effect of these factors isan increase in cost, which is called escalation.

Significant escalation occurs with all long-term projectssuch as conventional power plants, chemical plants, orsimilar industrial installations. In our example, the nuclearplant ordered in 1973 will go into operation around 1981 andwill have cost $500 per kilowatt to build; the total power-generating cost in the 1980's will be slightly less than twocents per kilowatt-hour. Plants now in operation were builtin less expensive times and produce cheaper power; thecosts are rougaly half those given above for future plants.

26

PLANTS IN THE UNITED STATES

The first full-scale nuclear power plant in the UnitedStates began operating in December 1957, at Shippingport,Pennsylvania. Since then, numerous other nuclear plantshave joined in providing electric power from the peacefulatom. This section is devoted to descriptions of some ofthese plants.

Note that the plants shown in the photographs use differ-ent kinds of reactors and that their power outputs differ bysubstantial amounts. This is because some of the plantswere built as demonstration units to determine relativeadvantages of one reactor type compared with another, andwere built to the size requirements of a particular powercompany or system.

The extent of the nuclear power program is indicated bythe fact that plants are located or planned for constructionin the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, California,Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana,Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minne-sota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee,Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. In addition, U. S. manu-facturers have sold reactor plants in several foreigncountries.

A rather special kind of nuclear power plant, the Han-ford "N" Reactor (sometimes called the New ProductionReactor), is at Hanford, Washington, about 150 milessoutheast of Seattle. The reactor is owned and operatedby the AEC and produces special nuclear material forgovernment stockpile purposes; its original design, how-

Cy ir) 27

ever, provided for the recovery of the waste heat. TheWashington Public Power Supply System later receivedapproval to build a nearby steam power plant in which thehot water from the reactor is used to generate steam. Theplant has a generating capacity of 790,000 kilowatts ofelectric power, equivalent to that of two Bonneville Darns.This plant began serving the Pacific Northwest in April1966.

Figure 17 SUIPPINGPORT Atomic Nice, Station. Located at Ship-Pliigh011, Peansyltania, about 25 ',ales norlhuest at Pittsburgh.Thessurized-uale, ,castor, q0,000-,tut-cleGtr,cal-ktIouall capac-ity, designed by Bettis Atomic Pone, Laboratory u_i Westinghouse1...1e,GtriG Cu, poration. Staled c Ol111/1C1-Gtal opeiation i,t 1957 beganopei abort at p),:ent potter in :9o."4. Jotidly wined by AEC and Du-quesne Light Company. Operated by Duquesne Light Company.Shtpptugptr,t nits the pis! laige nuclea, pone, electric gem: Haim;plant 111 the U. 5. The ieaclor is to the large butldtng in the center.

28

Figure 18 DRESDEN Nue lea r PowerStation. Unit P1. Located at Morris.Illinois. about 50 miles southwestvl Ch icag o. Boil ing- uale r reactor.200,000-net-el ect rical-k ca pa c-t y. designed by General Electric Com-

pany. Started commercial operation in1960. Owned and operated by Common-wealth Edison Company. Dresden UnitPI nes the second large nuclear powerplant to be built in Ike U. S. DresdenUnit ff2 and Unit adjoin Unit PI. (Seeronlispieced

-

29

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-Figure 19 YANKEE Nuclear Power Sta-tion, Located at Rowe, Massachusetts.about .13 »riles east of Albany, SewYork. Pressurized-water reactor,175.0110-nel -electrIcal-kilouall capac-ity. designed by Westinghouse Electric0010)711am. Started commercial (*-emboli in 1961. °lined and operated byYankee Atomic Electric Company.Yankee a as the third large nuclear powerplant to be built in the U. S.

30

Figure 20 INDIAN POINT Station ofConsolidated Edison Company of NewYork. Located on the Hudson River,about 35 wiles north of New York City.The first unit of the station, located infront of the slack in the illustration, hasa capacity of 265,000 kilowatts and wasthe fourth large nuclear power plant tobe built in the United States. It uses apressurized-uater reactor, as do theother two units of the complex. Totalprojected capacity, with all three unitsoperating, is more than two millionkilowatts.

31

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Figure 21 ENRICO PERM Atomic PowerPlant. Located at Lagoona Beach onLake hrie,near .11mioe,.lhehigan,about%Li miles southuest o1 Detroit. Breederreactor. cooled with !!quid sodium.onqinl-net -electrical-kilouall rapacity.designed by Atomic Amen DerelopmodAssociates, Inc. Started Posen opera -lron Jointly inured and operatedbv Detroit hdison Company and PollenReactor Development Company. EnricoFermi was the world's first large!weeder nuclear poser plant. .

Figure 22 0 iSTER CREEK NuclearPower Plant, Unit gl. This 515,000-kilowatt plant of Jersey Central Power &Light Company is al Toms River, NewJersey. Boiling- water reactor, designedby the General Electric Company. Sonicof the canals and equipment which pro-vide cooling water for the condensercan be seen in the pholograph.

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'Men slums loo 0.1 the three boiling-'tater reactors. Total generating capaC-

y, all units operating, over 1 hree millionkilouallS. Located about 10 miles oth-west of Decatur, Alabama, the BrownsFerry station is part of the TennesseeValley Authority system.

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Figure 25 CONNE Cr I CUT YANKEEAtomic Power Plant. Located at HaddamNeck on the cast bank of the ConnecticutRiver. about 20 miles southeast ofHartford. Pressurized- realer reactor,.162,000- kilowatt capacity. designed byWestinghouse Electric Corporation. op-owl ion of the planl, owned by ConnecticutYankee Atomic Power Company, beganin 1967.

Figure 26 11 C B O L DT BAY PowerPlant. Located on numboldt Bay nearEureka, California, about 200 milesnorth of San Francisco. Boiling -uaterreactor, 6S,500-net-electrical-kilouallcaPacity, designed by General ElectricCompany. Started conzmercial operationin 1%3. Owned and operated by PacificGas and Electric Company. The pictureshows the reactor building on the right:to the left are two oil-fired generatingunits.

37

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38

Figure 27 ROBERT E .11 .11 E T GiNNANuclear Potter Plant. Localcil on thcsouth shore of Lake Ontario. about 13miles t.ast of Rochester. .Vere York.Pressurized-wider reachw. gel elec-trical capacity 42(1.11(1 kilo:calls, (te-mpled by Westinghouse Electric Corpo-ration. The Coma pima nas jormerlyImoun as nrooktrooll and is owned byRochesterGas and Et eel ric Corporation.

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Figure 28 BIG ROCK POINT NuclearPlant. Located on Lake Michigan alBig Rock Point near Charlevoix, Alichi-gan, about IVO »tiles northwest ofDetroit. Boiling-water reactor, 70,400-nel-electrical-kilowatt c a pa c it y, de-signed by General Electric Company.Started commercial operation in 1963,Owned and operated by ConsumersPower Company.

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40

Figure 29 SAN ONO RE Nuclear Gen-erating Station. Located on the PacificOcean ,car San Clemente, California.Pressurized-water Tea et o r, 430,000-kilowatt capacity, commenced operationin 1967. Owned jointly by Southern Cali-fornia Edison Company and San DiegoGas & Electric Company.

Figure 30 PALISADES Nuclear PowerStation. Located at South Ihwen,oan about 35 miles west of Kalamazoo.Pressurized-water reactor, net capacity700,000 kilowatts. designed by Combus-tion Engineering, Inc. Owned by Con-sumers Power Company, whose Big RockPoint plant is shown in Figure 28.

41

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seieral years time, a lot material.and many hours 0.1 labor to erect alarge Power plant. In taking this pic-ture, 11w photographer stood inside alarge pipe that carries cooling raterfrom Lake Ontario into the steam con-denser. The huge, 11,4,1d -bulb-shapedsteel shell in the foreground houses

reactor. A vier( of the finished Plantis shown in Figure 32.

Figure 32 SINE MILE POINT NuclearStation, Located on Lake Ontario nearOsuego, New Yoth. about .33 milesnorth 0.1 Syracuse. Boiling-uater 'reac-tor, 300,ouO-net-electrical-kilowall ca-pacity, designed by General ElectricCompant. Orated and operated by Niag-ara Mohawk Power Corporation.

43

DEVELOPMENTS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES

Many countries use nuclear energy to produce electricpower, Some of these countries have large reactor de-velopment programs of their own, like the one in theUnited States, while others undertake little development,preferring to buy their nuclear power plants from acountry that sells them for export. Among the countrieswhose programs we will discuss, our neighbor to thenorth comes first.

Canada

With large reserves of uranium, with a pool of scientistswho participated in the early atomic energy work, and withinconveniently located fossil-fuel resources, Canada is "anatural" for the utilization of nuclear energy. The Cana-dians, in fact, for years have had a vigorous nuclear de-velopment program, oriented strongly toward heavy-waterreactors.

In 1962. the Nuclear Power Demonstration (NPD) Stationat Rolphton, Ontario. became Canada's first operating

Figure 33 The DOUG LASPOIN-r Nac Ica) PouerSta-ltuu hgand Cableinstruts of Lake Huron nearKau a ) dolt , Oda) to.

441(21;

nuclear power plant and the first in the world to use aheavy-water reactor. The station, with a power output of22,500 kilowatts, was designed as a prototype for largerplants. The first full-scale nuclear electric generatingplant, the Douglas Point Nuclear Power Station, has acapacity of 203,000 kilowatts. It was built by AtomicEnergy of Canada, Ltd. (which corresponds to our AtomicEnergy Commission) in partnership with the Hydro ElectricPower Commission of Ontario.

The dominance of the heavy-water reactor in Canadianefforts is illustrated by several additional large plants inCanada, and by the export sale of power plants of this typeto India and Pakistan.

Great Britain

The British have been in the nuclear energy business fora long time, and they have the nuclear power plants toprove it. In 1956, when the British began operating theirfirst nuclear plant at Calder Hall, shown in Figure 34, theychose a gas-cooled reactor. More than two dozen plantslater, the English still prefer gas-cooled reactors. Manytechnical improvements have been incorporated in thenewer plants. The outside appearance has changed, too,as can be seen by comparing a photo of a newer plant(Figure 35) with that of the original station.

Figure 34 England's CAL-DER HALL Ara lea) Pone,Station. The lull structuresare cooling lowers, whichare employed in locationswhere a large body ofwater is nol accessible.These loll ers cool the con-denser cooling water sothat it can be used again,and they emit steam, notsmoke. Four reactors sup-ply steam lo Iwo turbines.Total capacity of the sta-tion is 198,0(11) electricalkilowatts.

Great Britain offers plants for export and competes forcontracts in other countries. British-designed gas-cooledreactors have been built in Italy and Japan.

45

Figure 35 The 0 L D 13 L' R YNuclear Passer Station neatinto ape rattan us Great13i-slain us 1Vu7. Generatingcapacity Of Use lay plantsat the station is 600,000electrical kit on ails.

Figure 36 The DOUNREAYFast Reactor located iuScotland.

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In addition to their work on gas-cooled reactors, theBritish are investigating other systems, including steam-generating heavy-water and liquid-metal-cooled breederreactors. The Dounreay Fast Reactor, shown in Figure 36,is a 12,700-kilowatt experimental plant that has been in usesince 1959. A new, 250,000-kilowatt prototype breederreactor is located at the same site.

France

The emphasis in the French program, as in the British,has been on gas-cooled reactors. Although the two coun-tries have developed nuclear plants that are very similarin principle and in major features, the development pro-grams have been independent.

The first French plant went into operation at Marcoulein 1956, and since that time a new unit liar.; come "on theline" about every 2 yers with progressive improvementsin the later designs. This should not be taken as an indica-tion that progress has been slow, however, for the latestFrench plants show important improvements over the earlydesigns.

46 Cam

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Li,uur -ktlou all n a c tearpone,- station al Chinon.France. CIIINON 1 is alIke hollow, and Ihe newerdla tits, CHINON 2 and 3,are above.

The nuclear research and development work in Franceis considered to be good, and the French scientists arerespected by their counterparts in other countries. Inaddition to contemporary gas-cooled reactors, the Frenchhave an active fast breeder program underway, including a250,000-kilowatt prototype at Marcoule.

Japan

The Japanese have undertaken an ambitious nuclearpower construction program, and the supporting industriesnecessary for such a program are developing rapidly.Although most of the current nuclear power plants arebased on American designs, the Japanese have been op-erating reactors for over a decade.

The large nuclear plants that are becoming operationaluse boiling-water or pressurized-water reactors, but theJapanese are also looking well into the future as theydevelop a native capability. In addition to work on the kindsof reactors that are currently operating or under con-struction, research centers and industrial organizationsare involved in the development of heavy-water and breederreactors.

I47

/ice

Figure 38 Japan's MU-RUG rt Nuclear Pot( erPlant. This 322,000-kilo-watt plant is located nearKyoto.

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64 .

38 shows one of Japan's nuclear power plants,which uses a boiling-water reactor.

Soviet Union

The Russians have been operating nuclear reactors forover 25 yearsnearly as long as, scientists in the UnitedStates have. Their earliest reactors, like ours, were de-signed to produce materials for nuclear weapons. TheSoviet program on peaceful uses of atomic energy also islike ours. It is diversified and, in the nuclear power plantarea, it is not concentrated strongly on any particulartype of plant.

A nuclear power plant called AM-1 went into operationnear Moscow in 1954, preceding the first operation of ourShippingport station. We do not consider AM-1 to be a truenuclear power plant, however, because of its small size(5000 kilowatts) and experimental use. (A U. S. facility,the Experimental Breeder Reactor in Idaho, was producingelectric power in 1951.)

Russia has built several types of nuclear power plants,but not many of any one type. Figure 39 shows an interiorview of one of their larger plants, a pressurized-Watertype. The level of their technology is about equal to oursfor the kinds of plants being constructed in fairly largenumbers here. The U.S.S.R. is also pushing ahead with alarge breeder-reactor construction program.

48coo.)

Figure 39 The reactor Pa inthe N0170170RONEZIl Nu-clear. Dozier Station locatedon Ike Don River in theSoviet Union, The dome atthe bottom is a cover forthe reactor vessel. Thisplant produces 196,000kilowatts; a second, largerplanl is at the same site.

.11r

West Germany

A vigorous development program promises to place WestGermany among the foremost builders of nuclear powerplants. Since their 15,000-kilowatt Kahl station began poweroperation in 1961, the Germans have proceeded with re-search and construction plans encompassing a variety ofnuclear plants and facilities.

Some of the German plants are experimental in natureand serve as steps in a large, breeder-reactor program,but others have been built to furnish electric power to meettoday's requirements. One such plant is shown in Figure 40,while Figure 41 shows the reactor vessel of another.Although the two photos illustrate boiling-water reactors,other German plants use pressurized-water, heavy-water,and gas-cooled reactors.

Tne German program is not limited to the developmentand construction of nuclear power plants for domestic useonly. German industry is active in the competition forcontracts to build plants in other countries, and a 317,000-kilowatt heavy-water reactor was sold to Argentina in 1968.

49

Figure 40 West Ge r-mato 's Gl'NDRE.11.1IINGENNuclear Po a e r Station.This 237.ami-kilou (ill plantu as Ge nitwit p rst large-scale nuclear lamer $1a-tam 11 uses a bailing-airierreactor and has been alopentlion since 1966.

Figure 41 The interior ofthe reactor a essel al theLINGEN u cl e a r PotterStation in Rest Germany.The inside diameter of thevessel is about Thisboiling-linter reactor hasbeen in opt' ration since!Vbs.

Other CountriesPractically every country has a government agency and

research centers devoted to nuclear energy. Even sonic ofthe nations that are small in size have substantial pro-grams under way and have actually built a nuclear powerplant or two. Others have preferredat least at firsttobuy their plants from another country. In addition to thecountries mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, the fol-lowing have built or bought nuclear power plants: Belgium,Czechoslovakia, East Germany, the Netherlands, Spain,Sweden, Switzerland, and, reportedly, Bulgaria and Hungary.

50

THE LAST WORD

In the near future, a substantial amount of electricpower may come from a kind of nuclear plant that we havenot mentioned yet. This is called a thud-pm-pm. plant be-cause it has two products: Electricity and fresh water.The reactor in a dual-purpose plant serves the usualpurposeit produces heat. However, it produces enoughheat to make more steam than the power-generating sec-tion of the plant needs. The extra steam is used in adesalting plant, or process, that makes fresh water fromsalt water. Thus, the dual-purpose plant is much like aregular nuclear power plant except that it has an extrasectionand a big one, at thatwhich produces largeamounts of fresh water.*

ke have discussed some aspects of nuclear power plants,hum reactors work, and why atomic energy is important inmeeting the demand for electric power today and in thefuture. For those who cant more information, the followingpages give lists of suggested books, reports, articles, andmotion pictures.

"See Suc ka, bit o,,,k fur Dcsallingt companion booklet in thisseries.

51

SUGGESTED REFERENCES

Books

Nuat at Pout; Plant,: DC-Sign, UpLraling LApertence, and Eco-nomics. Robert L. Loftness, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc.,Princeton, New Jersey 08541, 1964, 548 pp., $12.50.

.5u,/ree book on Atomic .Ent-r, (third edition), Samuel Glasstone,D. Can Nostrand Company, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey 08541,1967. 883 pp., $9.25.

Di; c /or.% of Nut/La; Reactor, Volume IVPone; Reactor, In-ternational Atomic Energ} Agency, National Agency for Interna-tional Publications, Inc., 317 East 34th Street, Nev, York 10016,1962, 324 pp., $5.00..-

Dirt don .Nuclear kt-aclu,, Volume VII Potter Reactors, In-ternational Atomic Energy Agency, National Agene} for Interna-tional Publications, Inc., 317 Last 34th Street, Ne Yurk 10016,1966. 341 pp., $9.00.

Fact Book un U. S. Nucka, Putter Projects, revised periodically,Electric Companies Public Information Program, 230 ['arkAvenue, New York 10017, price varies with each edition.

Reports

Nacicar Reacluta Built. Being Built, or Planned In the UntiedSlates (TID-8200), revised semiannually, I.. S. Atomic EnergyCommission, Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and TechnicalInformation, 525 Port. Royal Road, Springfield, Virginia 22151,$3.00.

The folk.ming reports are available from the Superintendent ofDocuments, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.20402:

Major Aclit iltw to lh Atomic Energy Programs, January-DGccniber, issued annually, U. S. Atomic Energy Commission,about 400 pp., $1.75.

Tke .`'oiler; indusbj, revised annually, Division of Industrial Par-ticipation, U. S. Atomic Energy Commission, price varies matheach issue.

Fu,,,casi of G, utt th uj Nucha, Puue, (WAS11-1064). Division ofOperations Analysis and forecasting, U. S. Atomic EnergyCommission, December 1967, 50 pp., $0.35.

CH Mau Nue/Lar Poae, 7Ytc 1:167 Supplement Cu the 1A:.' Reportto the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission, February1967, 56 pp., $0.40.

ArticlesAnnual Report un Nuclear Pom,er,- UGC', Ica! Huth!. Reprints are

$1.00 a copy from Reprint Editor, Elect; tcal World, 330 West42nd Street, New York 10036.

52

The Arrival of Nuclear Power, John P. Hogerton, ScientificAmerican, 216: 21 (February 1968).

Numerous articles on nuclear power plants appear in the regularmonthly issues of the following periodicals; Pouco , ElectricalWorld. Potter Engutec..ring, Nuclear Setts, and Nuclear Engi-neerig InternatiOnal.

Motion Pictures

Nvailable for loan without charge from the AEC HeadquartersFilm Library, Division of Public Information, U. S. Atomic EnergyCommission, Washington, D. C. 20545 and from other AEC filmlibraries.Atomic Potter Today. Service atilt Safely, 281/2 minutes, color,

1966. Produced for the Atomic Industrial Forum, Inc. This filmtells the story of central station nuclear power plants and howthey serve the country now and will continue to do so in thefuture. Starting with basic information on how electricity isproduced from water power and fossil fuels, the film introducesnuclear fuel as a new energy resource that helps keep down thecost of electricity. Nuclear fuel is shown being fabricated, andits use in a reactor is illustrated through animation. I'he filmshows the components and construction of a nuclear power plant,and deals with the safety of the plant. The film concludes byshowing several of the nuclear power plants across thecountry, which serve our needs for electric power.

Tumorrua 's Poucr Today, 51/2 minutes, color, 1964. Producedfor the AEC by the Argonne National Laboratory. This filmexplains why energy from the atom is needed to supplement thatof conventional fossil fuels. It shows how heat from nuclearfission is converted to electrical power and gives a brief surreyof representative atomic power plants in the U.S.

The Neu' Potter, 45 minutes, color, 1965. Produced for the AC'sIdaho Operations Office by the Lookout Mountain Air ForceStation. This film tells how the National Reactor Testing Stationin Idaho is furthering the AEC's quest for economic nuclearpower. Most of the many experimental nuclear reactors locatedat the Testing Station are described. The film also explains thebasic principles of power reactor construction and operation.

Atomic Potter Production, 14 minutes, color or black and white,1964. This film in the Magic of the Atom Series was produced bythe Handel Film Corporation. An explanation is given of how theheat created by the controlled chain reaction of atomic fuel in areactor is converted to electrical power. The basic differencesin these power reactors are discussed: the boiling-water reac-tor, the pressurized-water reactor, the liquid-metal-cooledreactor, and the organic-cooled reactor. The principle of thebreeder reactor is explained and its importance stressed.

Atomic Votture, 231/2 minutes, color, 1961. Produced by the Gen-eral Electric Company. This film covers the designand develop-ment of a large dual-cycle boiling-water reactorthe 180,000 -kilowatt Dresden Nuclear Power Stationbuilt by the General

53

Electric Company fur the Cummonm,ealth Edison Company inChicagu and the :Nuclear er Group, Inc., from its beginningin 1955 to its completion in 1959.

Pia, r and Po , 29 minutes, color, 1959. Produced by theA LC This filni describes the Shippingport Atomic Po«er Stationin Pennsylvania, m,hich m,as built to advance power reactortechnolugy and demonstrate the practicability of operating acentral station nuclear pov,er plant in a utility network.

Th Da Tuthuo rua 13t4;an, 30 minutes, color, 1967. Produced byArgonne National Laboratory for the AEC. This film tells thestory of the building and testing of the m.orld's first reactor. Byintervim, historical film footage, and paintings, the motionpicture re-enacts the historic events that led to the dramaticmoment when the first sustained chain reaction %%as achieved.This milestone in man's quest for kno ledge occurred under thestands of Stagg Field, Chicago, on December 2, 1942.

54

PHOTO CREDITS

Cover courtesy Southern California Edison Company

Figure 10 Connecticut Light & Power CompanyFigure 11 Babcock & Wilcox CompanyFigure 12 Rural Cooperative Power AssociationFigure 13 Combustion Frigineering, Inc.Figure 14 Power Reactor Development CompanyFigure 18 General Electric CompanyFigure 19 Yankee Ato:nic Electric CompanyFigure 20 Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc.Figure 21 Power Reactor Development CompanyFigure 22 General Electric Company-APED and J. A. Jones

Construction CompanyFigure 23 Philadelphia Electric CompanyFigure 24 Tennessee Valley AuthorityFigure 25 Connecticut Light & Power CompanyFigure 26 Pacific Gas and Electric CompanyFigure 27 Rochester Gas and Electric CorporationFigure 28 Consumers Power CompanyFigure 20 Southern California Edison CompanyFigure 30 Consumers Power CompanyFigure 31 Niagara Mohawk Power CorporationFigure 2 Niagara Mohawk Power CorporationFigure ,43 Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd.Figure 34 Unitee. Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority ( UKAEA)Figure 35 JKAEAFigure 36 UKAEA

Figure 37 Electricite de France, pl.ctography by M. BrigaudFigure 38 General Electric.CompanyFigure 39 Soviet Delegation to the Third International Conference

on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic EnergyFigure 40 Deutsches Atoinforum e.V.Figure 41 Deutsches Atomforum e.V.

L

THE AUTHORS

RAY L. LYERLY is a consulting engi-neer who works with electric utilityfirms. He received a B.S. degree inmechanical engineering from NorthCarolina State University and an M.S.degree from Columbia University. Aregistered professional engineer, Mr.Lyerly has broad experience in the powergeneration field, both with fossil-fueland nuclear power plants. In recentyears, his work has been heavily orientedtoward the investigation and resolutionof power plant air and water environ-mental concerns. Ilc is the principalmember of Ray L. Lyerly and Associ-ates of Dunedin, Florida, consultants inpower plant engineering.

WALTER MITCHELL, III, is a nuclearengineer. Mr. Mitchell, a graduate ofthe Georgia Institute of Technology, be-gan his career in the nuclear industryin the 1950s with design work on proto-type ship-propulsion reactors. Duringthe period since that early work, he hasbeen active in the design, analysis, andevaluation of essentially all types of nu-clear plants. He has written scores oftechnical reports and articles, many ofwhich have appeared in national and in-ternational journals, and is coauthor ofNuclear Power Plants and Breeder Re-actors, other booklets in this series. Afounder and Vicc President of SouthernNuclear Engineering, Inc., Mr. Mitchellis now a Scnior Staff Consultant for NUSCorporation.

GOV ERN IA CNT-P 1

55

The U S Atomic Energy Commission publishes this series of informationbooklets for the general public. The booklets are listed below by subjectcategory.

If you would like to have copies of these booklets, please write to thefollowing address for a booklet pi ice list:

USAEC-Technical Information CenterP. O. Box 62Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830

School and public libraries may obtain a complete set of the bookletswithout charge. These requests must be made on school or library stationery.

Chemistry

18-303 The Atomic Fingerprint. Neu.tron Activation Analysis

18-301 The Chemistry of the NobleGases

18-302 Cryogenics. The UncommonCold

18.304 Nuclear Clocks18-306 Radioisotopes in Industry18-307 Rare Earths The Fraternal Fif

teen16 -308 Synthetic Transuranium Ele

ments

Biology

16.101 Animals in Atomic Research18.102 Atoms in Agriculture18.105 The Genetic Effects of Radio.

tion18.110 Preserving Food with Atomic

Energy18.106 Radioisotopes and Life Pro.

cesses18.107 Radioisotopes in Medicine16.109 Your Body and RadiationThe Environment

18.20118.20218.414

The Atom and the OceanAtoms, Nature, and ManNature's Invisible Rays

General Interest

18.009 Atomic Energy and Your World16.010 Atomic Pioneers-Book 1: From.

Ancient Greece to the 19thCentury

18.011 Atomic Pioneers-Book 2: Fromthe Mid-19th to the Early 20thCentury

18.012 Atomic Pioneers-Book 3: Fromthe Late 19th to the Mid20thCentury

18.002 A Bibliography of Basic Bookson Atomic Energy

18.004 Computers

16.008 Electricity and Man18.005 Index to AEC Information

Booklets18.310 Lost Worlds. Nuclear Science

and Archeology18-309 The Mysterious Box: Nuclear

Science and Art18.006 Nuclear Terms: A Glossary18.013 Secrets of the Past. Nuclear

Energy Applications in Art andArchaeology

19.017 Teleoperators. Man's MachinePart ners

16.014, Worlds Within Worlds: The015, & Story of Nuclear Energy Vol-016 umes 1, 2, and 3

Physics

18.40118.40218.40318.40418.41018.40516.416

16.40618.40718.41518-41118.41318.412

AcceleratorsAtomic Particle DetectionControlled Nuclear FusionDirect Conversion of EnergyThe ElectronThe Elusive NeutrinoInner Space: The Structure ofthe AtomLasersMicrostructure of MatterThe Mystery of MatterPower from RadioisotopesSpectroscopySpace Radiation

Nuclear Reactors

18.50118.50218.51319-50318.50516.50718.510

18.50818.51118.512

Atomic FuelAtomic Power SafetyBreeder ReactorsThe First ReactorNuclear Power PlantsNuclear ReactorsNuclear Reactors for SpacePowerRadioactive WastesSources of Nuclear FuelThorium and the Third Fuel