When we talk about the reactor cooling system, the meaning is usually the system for removing the reactor thermal output and transferring it to the steam raising units. This is obviously the way the reactor power is utilised. There are other cooling systems though, the most important being the emergency cooling system which can remove the reactor after heat, after it has been shutdown. This system can be powered by back up diesel generators if the connection to the grid has been lost. There will also be an emergency cooling system for the secondary containment, should there be a large loss of coolant accident, though this is very unlikely to happen.
When the cooling systems fail the station over heats and blows up. For example, Chernobly 1986, Ukraine.
A meltdown occurs when a severe failure of a nuclear power plant system prevents proper cooling of the reactor core, to the extent that the nuclear fuel assemblies overheat and melt. A meltdown is considered very serious because of the potential that radioactive materials could be released into the environment. A core meltdown will also render the reactor unstable until it is repaired. The scrapping and disposal of the reactor core will incur substantial costs for the operator.
Nuclear reactor heats water making steamTurbines are turned by steamCooling tower condenses spent steam back to waterwater is returned to the nuclear reactorIts actually a bit more complicated than this single closed loop, because the water heated by the nuclear reactor itself becomes slightly radioactive. Because of this radioactivity, for safety reasons a system with two closed loops connected by a heat exchanger is used. In the primary loop the water just keeps circulating between the nuclear reactor and the heat exchanger. In the secondary loop the water circulates as in the steps listed above, but substitute Heat exchanger for Nuclear reactor.
The time it takes to cool a nuclear reactor down varies. If a reactor has been running at nearly full power and is shut down, it takes several days to even weeks to cool it down. The size of the reactor and the "aggressiveness" of a cooling system will affect the cooldown time as well as the power levels at which the reactor was operating at before shutdown. If a reactor has been operating for some time at high power and is shut down, fission in the core stops (as it does in any shutdown). But fission products in the core are at a high level because the reactor was operating at high power. These fission products will continue to decay for some time. The decaying fission products will be creating a lot of residual heat for this extended period, too.
When we talk about the reactor cooling system, the meaning is usually the system for removing the reactor thermal output and transferring it to the steam raising units. This is obviously the way the reactor power is utilised. There are other cooling systems though, the most important being the emergency cooling system which can remove the reactor after heat, after it has been shutdown. This system can be powered by back up diesel generators if the connection to the grid has been lost. There will also be an emergency cooling system for the secondary containment, should there be a large loss of coolant accident, though this is very unlikely to happen.
reactor, steam turbine, and a (hopefully working) cooling system.
When the cooling systems fail the station over heats and blows up. For example, Chernobly 1986, Ukraine.
A meltdown occurs when a severe failure of a nuclear power plant system prevents proper cooling of the reactor core, to the extent that the nuclear fuel assemblies overheat and melt. A meltdown is considered very serious because of the potential that radioactive materials could be released into the environment. A core meltdown will also render the reactor unstable until it is repaired. The scrapping and disposal of the reactor core will incur substantial costs for the operator.
my cousin became a nuclear reactor engineer and he said it was about 12 years
J. C. Conklin has written: 'Modeling and performance of the MHTGR reactor cavity cooling system' -- subject(s): Mathematical models, Cooling, Nuclear reactors, Gas cooled reactors
The first nuclear reactor (CP-1) was first tested on December 2, 1942, less than a year after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Its maximum design operating power was half a watt (thermal) so it needed no cooling system nor radiation shielding.
It is related to the specific nuclear reactor design including the nuclear fuel amount and the reactor control system and the energy extracting medium (coolant) capacity.
It is related to the specific nuclear reactor design including the nuclear fuel amount and the reactor control system and the energy extracting medium (coolant) capacity.
Cooling. The water is available for the cooling system.
We need to know what kind of system. Is it your computer, your wrist watch, or a nuclear reactor?
Yes, we can increase the thermal power of a nuclear reactor without changing the core of the reactor; primarily by:increasing the coolant mass flow rate,modifying the control rod patterns, andupgrading the turbo generator system