How does a Nuclear Power Plant work? What are its potentials?

The operation of a nuclear power plant depends solely on 2 main elements, the nuclear reactionsin the nuclear reactor, and the power generation process by the steam turbine.

The nuclear reactor creates a condusive envorinment for the nuclear fission reactions of the fuel to occur. This reaction generates extensive amounts of heat energy which will then be the converted to electrical energy by means of a steam power cycle.

The steam power cycle used in a nuclear power plant is similiar to that in a steam power plant, where the heat source is used to heat the water into steam or superheated steam, and then directed to the turbines to generate electricity. The steam or sometimes water that leaves the turbine has a lower temperature as compared to when it

first entered the turbine. It is then pumped back into the reactor containment structure where it absorb the heat generated from the reactor core once again, and the whole process repeats itself.

With that said, there are 2 types of nuclear reactor types, the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR), and the Boiling Water Reactor (BWR). The difference between these 2 is that in a PWR, the heated water is pressurized to very high pressures (the water does not boil due to high pressures) before it enters the turbine generators. Whereas in the BWR, the water is just heated until boiling point temperature, turning into steam just before it enters the turbine generator.

Regardless of the type of reactor, nuclear power plants generally have very high power generation rates due to the massive amount of energy released from nuclear fission reactions. From this, it also could be said that nuclear power plants also have very dense energy generation, meaning that one nuclear plant generates far more electrical power than a conventional coal power plant.

Nuclear power plants also have virtually ZERO emmisions of green house gasees. The fuel (uranium) is also currently inexpensive and easily attainable, and not to mention the volumes of nuclear waste produced are significantly lesser than the wastes from coal burning. Considering all these advantages, it is no wonder why nuclear energy is taken into serious consideration as an alternate energy source.

Money Money!!!

You go to a restaurant to have your daily serving of your favourite chicken rice.... It costs around RM4.50.... Not cheap and not that expensive.... Then one fine day, of your of friends tell you that he or she found an another shop selling chicken rice for only RM4.00 with the taste of the chicken slightly different but still taste nice and is as filling as the one you usually eat... You would definitely try it right???

Coal is currently the main contributor for power generation in Malaysia... Coal is a relatively cheap fuel since its one of the most abundant fossil fuel on our planet... Unlike China, USA and Australia, Malaysia does not have the luxury of having abundance of supply of domestic coal resources. Therefore, a large portion of Malaysia's coal supply is being imported. Currently, fossil fuel in the international market is fluctuating vigorously. Unfortunately, the acquisition price for coal becomes more expensive from time to time. Therefore this would more or less affect Malaysia's power production cost.

Therefore, would it be a hightime for us to find an alternative fuel source to replace the use of coal??? DEFINITELY!!!!

Believe it or not, power generation through nuclear is actually one of the cheapest if compared to other power generating means. In fact, power generation through the means of nuclear is the cheapest in developed countries such as Japan and also Korea. It should be noted that coal and uranium mining in these country is in a very small scale or none at all.

The power generated per mass of nuclear fuel is very massive which far surpasses the capability of other power generating fuel such as coal and natural gas. Therefore, although the initial start-up and operation cost would be higher, in the long run throughout the life-cycle of the nuclear power plant, the total cost of electricity production per kWh would be very low which would go as low as just $0.04 per kWh which is equivalent to around RM0.12 per kWh.

Below is a video from youtube about one of the world's richest person, Bill Gates having a talk about the future of nuclear energy in the world. Although he is no nuclear specialist but hei, due to his vision about the future in which that computer would be part of our daily life, he is one of the riches person in world. So do watch this clip and maybe you might gain an another perspective on the future of nuclear energy ^^

Radiation and its effect to humans!!

 

We always heard of the word " RADIATION" on the internet, newspaper and television channels, but how much do we really understand about the word radiation and its effect to human's physical condition? Is it harmful and how will it bring harm to us??

In physic and biological context, radiation is an energy emitted by unstable atoms of a particle to reach a stable state. There are 3 common radioactive rays emitted, namely alpha, beta and gamma rays. Gamma rays are like X-rays, which possessed high energy electromagnetic waves and can pass through solid objects with great ease. A 1m thick of concrete wall is barely able to stop gamma rays from penetrating human body cells.

But why is it dangerous for gamma rays to penetrate human body cells?? The reason is that when gamma rays passes through our body cells, the positive and negative charge will disrupt the chemical bonds of human body's DNA. As a matter of fact, the DNA of the human's body will change and causes mutation. In a general context, mutation in human's DNA will cause cancer, which is a type of cell mutation.

However, the construction of nuclear power plant had received a lot of objection from the public in Malaysia. The general idea of a nuclear power plant is that a person staying near the power plant will eventually be sick due to the radiation of the power plant. But what we do not know is that a normal person receives 2.4mSv/year of natural radiation from air, soil, food and cosmic rays, but staying near nuclear power plant only receives less than 0.001 mSv/year from the power plant if it is well maintained, which will not create much harm to the body cells.

If a nuclear power plant is well maintained, it will be the future energy of Malaysia. Therefore, don't reject an idea before understanding the real impact and consequences. This is why this blog will educate you on what is nuclear energy how about. Please stay tuned for more updates, till then, work smart and work hard!! ;D

Above is a video about Radiation and the effects on human body, enjoy the video!!

Brace yourselves, nuclear energy post is coming your way!!!

Good day ladies and gentlemen, this blog is created by 3 future mechanical engineers of Uniten to open up your eyes on the knowledge and application of Nuclear Energy. We will be updating this blog from 25/03/2012 to 27/04/2012 on the latest technology of nuclear energy. Please feel free to visit our blog from time to time to quench your thirst for the latest updates and embrace yourselves towards the future of nuclear energy.

P.s: Knowledge on nuclear energy can prevent nuclear disaster all around the world!! KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!!