Review of Small Nuclear Reactors and Assessment of Deployment Feasibility in Remote Regions
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
UNIVERSITY OF GRONINGEN BACHELOR’S THESIS PROJECT Review of small nuclear reactors and assessment of deployment feasibility in remote regions. Author: Supervisors: ALBA ESTEVE VALENZUELA Dr. C.E. RIGOLLET (s4171950) Dr. E.R VAN DER GRAAF July 3, 2020 - 1 - Abstract Nuclear energy is emitting the lowest amount of carbon dioxide equivalent per unit energy produced when considering total life-cycle emissions. Therefore, nuclear energy, coupled with other renewable energy sources, should play an important part in the production of clean and sustainable electricity in the future. This project aims to review small modular nuclear reactors technology and assess the possibility to have such a reactor power small to medium size remote communities. - 2 - Contents 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... - 5 - 1.1 Motivation...................................................................................................... - 5 - 1.2 Aim of this research ....................................................................................... - 5 - 2. Nuclear energy and current technology ............................................................... - 6 - 2.1 History of Nuclear Reactors. .......................................................................... - 6 - 2.2 Evolution and current Nuclear Power Plants ................................................. - 6 - 2.3 Generation timeline ....................................................................................... - 8 - 2.4 Current nuclear reactors ................................................................................ - 9 - 2.4.1 Light Water Reactors (LWR) ................................................................... - 9 - 2.4.2 Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors ...................................................... - 10 - 2.4.3 Graphite-moderated reactors .............................................................. - 10 - 3. Small modular nuclear reactors ......................................................................... - 10 - 3.1 Current Small modular reactors .................................................................. - 10 - 3.2 Advanced SMRs designs............................................................................... - 12 - 3.3 Features of SMRs in an advanced stage of development ........................... - 13 - 3.4 Power conversion systems .......................................................................... - 17 - 3.5 Special issues ............................................................................................... - 17 - 3.5.1 Load following mode ............................................................................ - 17 - 3.5.2 Grid availability ..................................................................................... - 18 - 3.5.3 Modularity ............................................................................................ - 18 - 3.6 Co-generation products ............................................................................... - 18 - 3.7 Safety systems ............................................................................................. - 20 - 3.7.1 Internal factors ..................................................................................... - 20 - 3.7.2 External factors ..................................................................................... - 21 - 3.8 Advantages and disadvantages of SMRs ..................................................... - 21 - 3.8.1 Advantages ........................................................................................... - 21 - 3.8.2 Disadvantages ....................................................................................... - 22 - 3.9 Economy of SMRs ........................................................................................ - 23 - 4. Comparisons with other reactors ....................................................................... - 24 - 4.1 Cost comparison .......................................................................................... - 24 - 4.2 Safety and support system comparison ...................................................... - 27 - 5. Examples ............................................................................................................. - 28 - 5.1 Icebreakers ................................................................................................... - 28 - 5.2 Power analysis and comparisons ................................................................. - 29 - - 3 - 6. Environmental considerations ............................................................................ - 31 - 7. Potential solution for remote areas ................................................................... - 31 - 8. Conclusion .......................................................................................................... - 32 - References .................................................................................................................. - 34 - - 4 - 1. Introduction 1.1 Motivation The growth in the world’s population, together with rapid urbanization, will result in a substantial increase in energy demand over the coming years. Nuclear energy is emitting the lowest amount of carbon dioxide equivalent per unit energy produced when considering total life-cycle emissions. Therefore, nuclear energy, coupled with other renewable energy sources, should play an important part in the production of clean and sustainable electricity in the future. The number of people without access to electricity has fallen substantially, and is now below one billion. However, despite significant progress, over 11% of the world's population still lacks access, mostly in rural areas. 1.2 Aim of this research Current nuclear reactors provide about 10% of the total energy production worldwide (Figure 1). Figure 1: World electricity production by source [1]. The purpose of this research project is to review the current small nuclear reactors technology and to assess the possibility to have such a reactor power small to medium size remote communities. After a brief note on the history of nuclear reactors, a description of the current nuclear reactor technology and reactor types will be given. Next, we review the need for and on-going research of small reactors. - 5 - Finally, an example of deployment of a small modular reactor will be provided and a review of its impact on the environment and its applicability on small areas. 2. Nuclear energy and current technology 2.1 History of Nuclear Reactors. It wasn’t until the 1940s, after some years of research and investigation on the process of fission by scientists like Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi that the first nuclear reactor was built. In 1942, during the Second World War, the Manhattan Project was created with the main goal of creating nuclear weapons. The same year, the first nuclear reactor was built and achieved a self-sustaining chain reaction. At the end of the war, a lot of scientists and organizations such as the United Nations were working on a campaign to develop ‘’peaceful’’ uses of nuclear power. Finally, in 1951 the first reactor was turned on to produce electricity near Arco, Idaho, USA. The first reactors models deployed were the Light Water Reactors (LWRs) which include Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR) and Boiling Water reactors (BWR). The PWR was developed to supply power to maritime stations in the Navy in 1955 and later on, it was used for electricity generation in 1958 [2]. 2.2 Evolution and current Nuclear Power Plants The rise in oil prices and the lack of energy security motivated the construction of nuclear power plants (NNPs). The first NNP connected to a grid was in the USSR in 1954, with a RBMK prototype reactor. In the late 1970’s, as a result of the 1973 oil crisis, France and the USA built around 50 NPPs, using PWRs as reactors. As can be seen from Figure 2, the number of NPPs built and connected to a grid has seen a sharp increase in the 1960’s, culminating in the early 1980’s. After the 1980’s peak, the NNP construction slowed down all over the word, motivated by factors like the high costs of nuclear energy, the slow rate at which the electricity demand was growing and perhaps more importantly the accidents that occurred at the Three Mile Island generating station in 1979, Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011 [2]. - 6 - Figure 2: Number of nuclear reactors since 1954 [1]. From then on, many governments started to revise the safety strategies of their NNPs. Some countries shut down the reactors for some years, like in Japan or China and others improved the safety measures in their NPPs and worked closely with safety agencies. Nowadays 454 reactors are connected to grids in 31 different countries, mainly in the USA, France, China, Russia and South Korea and produce more than 10% of world’s electricity Figure 3: Construction starts of NPPs in the world and China [2]. Figure 3 shows the number of NPPs currently being built. From the 54 reactors under construction approximately 1/3 is located in Asia, especially in China where the nuclear power generation has been increased by 18% in 2016-2017 [2]. - 7 - 2.3 Generation timeline The nuclear power plant evolution during the last 50 years has been divided in different generations: -Generation I refers to the first prototypes and designs at the beginning of nuclear energy production (from 1950s to 1970s). The firsts reactors