In the middle of the twentieth century, the best minds of mankind worked hard on two tasks at once: on the creation of an atomic bomb, and also on how to use the energy of the atom for peaceful purposes. This is how the world's first nuclear power plants appeared. What is the principle of operation of a nuclear power plant? And where in the world are the largest of these power plants located?
History and features of nuclear power
"Energy is the head of everything" - this is how you can paraphrase a well-known proverb, given the objective realities of the 21st century. With each new round of technological progress, humanity needs an increasing amount of it. Today, the energy of the "peaceful atom" is actively used in the economy and production, and not only in the energy sector.
Electricity produced by so-called nuclear power plants (which operate on a very simple principle) is widely used in industry, space exploration, medicine and agriculture.
Nuclear energy is a branch of heavy industry that extracts heat and electricity from the kinetic energy of the atom.
When did they appearthe first nuclear power plants? Soviet scientists studied the principle of operation of such power plants back in the 40s. By the way, in parallel they also invented the first atomic bomb. Thus, the atom was both "peaceful" and deadly.
In 1948, IV Kurchatov suggested that the Soviet government begin to carry out direct work on the extraction of atomic energy. Two years later, in the Soviet Union (in the city of Obninsk, Kaluga region), the construction of the very first nuclear power plant on the planet began.
The principle of operation of all nuclear power plants is similar, and it is not at all difficult to understand it. This will be discussed further.
NPP: principle of operation (photo and description)
The work of any nuclear power plant is based on a powerful reaction that occurs during the fission of the nucleus of an atom. Uranium-235 or plutonium atoms are most often involved in this process. The nucleus of atoms divides the neutron that enters them from the outside. In this case, new neutrons are produced, as well as fission fragments, which have a huge kinetic energy. Just this energy is the main and key product of any nuclear power plant
This is how you can describe the principle of operation of a nuclear power plant reactor. In the next photo you can see how it looks from the inside.
There are three main types of nuclear reactors:
- high power channel reactor (abbreviated as RBMK);
- pressure water reactor (VVER);
- fast neutron reactor (FN).
Separately, it is worth describing the principle of operation of the nuclear power plant as a whole. How it works will be discussed.in the next article.
NPP operation principle (diagram)
Nuclear power plant operates under certain conditions and in strictly defined modes. In addition to a nuclear reactor (one or more), the structure of a nuclear power plant includes other systems, special facilities and highly qualified personnel. What is the principle of operation of nuclear power plants? It can be briefly described as follows.
The main element of any nuclear power plant is a nuclear reactor, in which all the main processes take place. We wrote about what happens in the reactor in the previous section. Nuclear fuel (usually most often uranium) in the form of small black pellets is fed into this huge cauldron.
The energy released during the reactions taking place in a nuclear reactor is converted into heat and transferred to the coolant (usually water). It is worth noting that during this process the coolant also receives a certain dose of radiation.
Further, the heat from the coolant is transferred to ordinary water (through special devices - heat exchangers), which boils as a result. Water vapor, which is formed in this case, rotates the turbine. A generator is connected to the latter, which generates electrical energy.
Thus, according to the principle of operation of a nuclear power plant, this is the same thermal power plant. The only difference is how the steam is produced.
Geography of nuclear power
The top five countries in the production of nuclear energy are as follows:
- USA.
- France.
- Japan.
- Russia.
- South Korea.
At the same time, the United States of America, generating about 864 billion kWh per year, produces up to 20% of the world's electricity.
In total, 31 states in the world operate nuclear power plants. Of all the continents of the planet, only two (Antarctica and Australia) are completely free from nuclear energy.
Today, there are 388 nuclear reactors operating in the world. True, 45 of them have not generated electricity for a year and a half. Most of the nuclear reactors are located in Japan and the United States. Their full geography is presented on the following map. Countries with operating nuclear reactors are marked in green, their total number in a particular state is also indicated.
Development of nuclear power in different countries
In general, as of 2014, there has been a general decline in the development of nuclear power. The leaders in the construction of new nuclear reactors are three countries: Russia, India and China. In addition, a number of states that do not have nuclear power plants are planning to build them in the near future. These include Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and a number of North African countries.
On the other hand, a number of states have taken a course towards a gradual reduction in the number of nuclear power plants. These include Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. And in some countries (Italy, Austria, Denmark, Uruguay) nuclear power is prohibited at the legislative level.
Main problems of nuclear power
There is one significant environmental problem associated with the development of nuclear energy. This is the so-called thermal pollution of the environment. So, according to many experts, nuclear power plants emit more heat than thermal power plants of the same capacity. Especially dangerous is thermal water pollution, which disrupts the natural conditions of life of biological organisms and leads to the death of many fish species.
Another burning issue related to nuclear power concerns nuclear safety in general. For the first time, mankind seriously thought about this problem after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. The principle of operation of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was not much different from that of other nuclear power plants. However, this did not save her from a major and serious accident, which entailed very serious consequences for the entire Eastern Europe.
Moreover, the danger of nuclear energy is not limited to possible man-made accidents. So, big problems arise with the disposal of nuclear waste.
Advantages of nuclear power
Nevertheless, supporters of the development of nuclear energy also name the clear advantages of nuclear power plants. Thus, in particular, the World Nuclear Association recently published its report with very interesting data. According to him, the number of human casu alties accompanying the production of one gigawatt of electricity at nuclear power plants is 43 times less than at traditional thermal power plants.
There are other equally important benefits. Namely:
- cheap electricity generation;
- environmental cleanliness of nuclear energy (with the exception of thermal water pollution);
- lack of strict geographical reference of nuclear power plants to large sources of fuel.
Instead of a conclusion
In 1950, the world's first nuclear power plant was built. The principle of operation of nuclear power plants is the fission of an atom with the help of a neutron. This process releases an enormous amount of energy.
It would seem that nuclear energy is an exceptional boon for mankind. However, history has proven otherwise. In particular, two major tragedies - the accident at the Soviet Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 and the accident at the Japanese power plant Fukushima-1 in 2011 - demonstrated the danger posed by the "peaceful" atom. And many countries of the world today began to think about the partial or even complete rejection of nuclear energy.
