In the middle of the twentieth century, the best minds of mankind worked hard at once on two tasks: the creation of the atomic bomb, and also how to use the energy of the atom for peaceful purposes. So the first nuclear power plants in the world appeared . What is the principle of operation of nuclear power plants? And where in the world are the largest of these power plants?
History and features of nuclear power
“Energy is the head of everything” - this is how the famous proverb can be rephrased, given the objective realities of the 21st century. With each new round of technological progress, mankind needs an increasing number 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 at the so-called nuclear power plants (the principle of operation of which is very simple in nature) is widely used in industry, space exploration, medicine and agriculture.
Nuclear energy is the heavy industry that extracts heat and electricity from the kinetic energy of an atom.
When did the first nuclear power plants appear? The principle of operation of such power plants, Soviet scientists studied 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, I.V. Kurchatov invited the Soviet government to begin direct work on the extraction of atomic energy. Two years later, in the Soviet Union (in the city of Obninsk, Kaluga Region), construction of the very first nuclear power plant on the planet begins.
The principle of operation of all nuclear power plants is similar, but it is not at all difficult to understand it. This will be discussed later.
NPP: principle of operation (photo and description)
The basis of the work of any nuclear power plant is a powerful reaction that occurs during the fission of an atomic nucleus. Uranium-235 or plutonium atoms are most often involved in this process. The nucleus of atoms is divided by a neutron that enters into them from the outside. In this case, new neutrons appear, as well as fission fragments, which have enormous kinetic energy. Just this energy is the main and key product of any nuclear power plant.
So you can describe the principle of operation of the reactor NPP. 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 (in short - RBMK);
- water-water reactor (VVER);
- fast neutron reactor (BN).
Separately, it is worth describing the principle of operation of nuclear power plants in general. How it works will be discussed in the next article.
The principle of operation of nuclear power plants (scheme)
A nuclear power plant operates under certain conditions and in strictly specified modes. In addition to a nuclear reactor (one or more), the structure of the NPP also 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 is happening in the reactor in the previous section. Nuclear fuel (usually most often it is uranium) in the form of small black tablets is fed into this huge boiler.
The energy released during the reactions taking place in an atomic reactor is converted into heat and transferred to the heat carrier (usually water). It is worth noting that the coolant in this process receives a certain dose of radiation.
Further, heat from the coolant is transferred to ordinary water (through special devices - heat exchangers), which as a result boils. 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, it is the same thermal power plant. The only difference is how the steam is formed.
Geography of Nuclear Power
The first five countries for 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 operate nuclear power plants in the world. Of all the continents of the planet, only two (Antarctica and Australia) are completely free from nuclear energy.
To date, 388 nuclear reactors are operating in the world. True, 45 of them have not generated electricity for a year and a half. Most nuclear reactors are located in Japan and the United States. Their full geography is presented on the following map. Green color indicates countries with operating nuclear reactors, their total number in a specific state is also indicated.
The development of nuclear energy in different countries
In general, as of 2014, there has been a general decline in the development of nuclear energy. The leaders in the construction of new nuclear reactors are three countries: these are Russia, India and China. In addition, a number of states that do not have nuclear power plants plan to build them in the near future. These include Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and a number of countries in North Africa.
On the other hand, a number of states have embarked on 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 energy is prohibited at the legislative level.
The main problems of nuclear energy
The development of nuclear energy has one significant environmental problem. 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. Thermal pollution of water is especially dangerous, which violates the natural living conditions of biological organisms and leads to the death of many species of fish.
Another pressing issue related to nuclear energy concerns nuclear safety in general. For the first time, humanity has seriously thought about this problem after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. 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 all of Eastern Europe.
Moreover, the danger of nuclear energy is not limited only to possible technological accidents. So, big problems arise with the disposal of nuclear waste.
The benefits of nuclear power
Nevertheless, proponents of the development of nuclear energy also call the clear advantages of the operation of nuclear power plants. So, in particular, the World Nuclear Association recently published its report with very interesting data. According to him, the number of human casualties 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 advantages. Namely:
- low cost of electricity production;
- environmental cleanliness of nuclear energy (with the exception of thermal pollution of water);
- the lack of a 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 using a neutron. A tremendous amount of energy is released as a result of this process.
It would seem that nuclear energy is an exceptional benefit for humanity. However, history has proved the opposite. In particular, two major tragedies - the accident at the Soviet Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 and the accident at the Japanese Fukushima-1 power plant in 2011 - demonstrated the danger posed by the "peaceful" atom. And many countries of the world today began to think about a partial or even complete rejection of nuclear energy.