Trends in Nuclear Generation Technology

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.



Report Highlights
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.


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DATAMONITOR VIEW 1
CATALYST 1
SUMMARY 1
ANALYSIS 4
Nuclear fission is based on the interaction of neutrons with uranium-235 4
Uranium-235 is the fissile material used in almost all reactor designs 4
Water is the most common moderator used for nuclear fission 5
There are five common nuclear reactor designs in use globally 6
BWRs are the simplest reactor design 6
PWRs are the most common design in use globally 7
Pressurized heavy water reactors such as the CANDU design use natural uranium 8
AGCRs operate without enriched uranium 9
The RMBK is a Soviet design still in operation today 10
Third-generation nuclear technology is based on small evolutionary steps from previous designs 10
Third-generation reactor technologies are all water-based designs 10
Passive safety systems are now commonplace in reactor designs 10
Five new commercial designs in the US have had public expressions of commercial interest 11
There are four major third-generation PWR designs 12
The AP1000, using a pressurized water reactor design, makes extensive use of passive safety systems 12
General Electric’s ABWR was first certified in April 1997 13
Areva’s EPR is under construction only in Finland 14
Areva’s EPR has four separate heat removal and generating systems 15
The first of Mitsubishi’s APWRs will come online in Japan in 2014 16
Some third-generation designs are still in the process of being commercialized 17
HTGRs are a pebble-bed design that forms the basis for third-generation technologies 17
Breeder reactors produce more fissile material than they consume 18
The world is set for a new boom in nuclear plant construction, with PWR designs leading the market 19
Available nuclear capacity has decreased to historically unprecedented levels 19
PWRs are set to remain the most popular nuclear reactor design in the world for the foreseeable future 20
APPENDIX 21
Glossary 21
Datamonitor consultancy 21
Ask the analyst 21
Disclaimer 22

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