Trends in Nuclear Generation Technology

Publication Date	June 2007
Publisher	Datamonitor
Product Type	Brief
Pages	20
ISBN Number	not applicable
Product Code	DAT05908

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Summary

Nuclear generation technology is varied, with significantly different designs marketed marketed by energy and industrial companies around the world. Nevertheless, designs based on pressurized water as a coolant and moderator for the nuclear reaction have emerged as a clear winner, and the basis for third generation technological development.

A layman's overview of the process of nuclear fission.
A description of the main nuclear generation technologies in operation around the world.
A review of third generation nuclear technologies, the companies that develop them, and their certification and operational status.
An analysis of nuclear capacity utilization and the technological focus of new build globally.

Water, while acting as a moderator to slow neutrons and facilitate reaction with uranium-235, also serves as an effective medium for the transfer of heat from reactor cores to turbines. As a result, water is the most common moderator in use today. Water also, however, absorbs neutrons. Enriched uranium must therefore be used as fissile material.

Third generation designs build in passive safety systems, meaning that in the event of a reactor incident the plant is capable of controlling or containing the incident without manual intervention and the use of mechanical systems.

The fuel elements in a High-temperature Gas-cooled Reactor design are composed of tennis ball-sized spheres of uranium oxide encased in graphite. These 'pebbles' form the reactor core. The major innovation of HTGRs is the ability of the reactor core to remain safe even in the event of a total failure of the cooling system.

Understand the basis for nuclear fission, why multiple nuclear generation designs exist and their advantages and disadvantages.
Understand which companies are producing which types of reactors.
Gain insight into third generation technologies and what makes them different.

Content

Datamonitor View
Catalyst
Summary
Analysis
- Nuclear fission is based on the interaction of neutrons with uranium-235
- Uranium-235 is the fissile material used in almost all reactor designs
- Water is the most common moderator used for nuclear fission
- There are five common nuclear reactor designs in use globally
- BWRs are the simplest reactor design
- PWRs are the most common design in use globally
- Pressurized heavy water reactors such as the CANDU design use natural uranium
- AGCRs operate without enriched uranium
- The RMBK is a Soviet design still in operation today
- Third-generation nuclear technology is based on small evolutionary steps from previous designs
- Third-generation reactor technologies are all water-based designs
- Passive safety systems are now commonplace in reactor designs
- Five new commercial designs in the US have had public expressions of commercial interest
- There are four major third-generation PWR designs
- The AP1000, using a pressurized water reactor design, makes extensive use of passive safety systems
- General Electric's ABWR was first certified in April 1997
- Areva's EPR is under construction only in Finland
- Areva's EPR has four separate heat removal and generating systems
- The first of Mitsubishi's APWRs will come online in Japan in 2014
- Some third-generation designs are still in the process of being commercialized
- HTGRs are a pebble-bed design that forms the basis for third-generation technologies
- Breeder reactors produce more fissile material than they consume
- The world is set for a new boom in nuclear plant construction, with PWR designs leading the market
- Available nuclear capacity has decreased to historically unprecedented levels
- PWRs are set to remain the most popular nuclear reactor design in the world for the foreseeable future
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