Nuclear power was one of the factors underpinning the post-war success of the Euro-Atlantic region. The world is now in great need of a similar step forward

In commercially available generation III and III+ PWR (pressurized water reactor) reactors, pressure of steam produced in steam generators varies in a relatively wide range from 5.7 to 7.8 MPa. Therefore, it is important to ask which value of steam pressure should be used for a specific unit, taking into account different location conditions, the size of the power system and conditions of operation with other sources of electricity generation.
The paper analyzes the effect of steam pressure at the outlet of a steam generator on the performance of a PWR nuclear power plant by presenting changes in gross and net power and efficiency of the unit for steam pressures in the range of 6.8 to 7.8 MPa. In order to determine losses in the thermal system of the PWR power plant, in particular those caused by flow resistance and live steam throttling between the steam generator and the turbine inlet, results concerning entropy generation in the thermal system of the power plant have been presented.
A model of a nuclear power plant was developed using the Ebsilon software and validated based on data concerning the Olkiluoto Unit 3 EPR (evolutionary power reactor) power plant. The calculations in the model were done for design conditions and for a constant thermal power of the steam generator. Under nominal conditions of the Olkiluoto Unit 3 EPR power unit, steam pressure is about 7.8 MPa and the steam dryness fraction is 0.997. The analysis indicates that in the assumed range of live steam pressure the gross power output and efficiency increase by 32 MW and 0.735 percentage point, respectively, and the net power output and efficiency increase by 27.8 MW and 0.638 percentage point, respectively.
In the case of all types of commercially available PWR reactors, water pressure in the primary circuit is in the range of 15.5−16.0 MPa. For such pressure, reducing the live steam pressure leads to a reduction in the efficiency of the unit. Although a higher steam pressure increases the efficiency of the system, it is necessary to take into account the limitations resulting from technical and economic criteria as well as operating conditions of the primary circuit, including the necessary DNBR (departure from nucleate boiling ratio) margin. For the above reasons, increasing the live steam pressure above 7.8 MPa (the value used in EPR units that have already been completed) is unjustified, as it is associated with higher costs of the steam generator and the high-pressure part of the turbine.

The paper presents a comparison of selected power technologies from the point of view of emissions of greenhouse gases. Such evaluation is most often based only on analysis of direct emissions from combustion. However, the direct analysis does not show full picture of the problem as significant emissions of GHG appear also in the process of mining and transportation of fuel. It is demonstrated in the paper that comparison of power technologies from the GHG point of view has to be done using the cumulative calculus covering the whole cycle of fuel mining, processing, transportation and end-use. From this point of view coal technologies are in comparable level as gas technologies while nuclear power units are characterised with lowest GHG emissions. Mentioned technologies are compared from the point of view of GHG emissions in full cycle. Specific GHG cumulative emission factors per unit of generated electricity are determined. These factors have been applied to simulation of the influence of introduction of nuclear power units on decrease of GHG emissions in domestic scale. Within the presented simulations the prognosis of domestic power sector development according to the Polish energy policy till 2030 has been taken into account. The profitability of introduction of nuclear power units from the point of view of decreasing GHG emissions has been proved.

The aim of the investigation presented in this work was to realise complex calculations of a new, combined water-steam system with peak-load hydrogen turbine to be applied in nuclear units with gas-cooled reactors. The system’s characteristic feature is the presence of two heat sources: a nuclear steam generator; and a hydrogen-oxygen combustion chamber. The main idea is to create a system capable to operate in two modes, with one or two heat sources, which leads to a significant output change. The investigation included also the overall efficiency of conversion of the nuclear energy, assumed the heat needed for producing hydrogen and oxygen comes from such a source. This part of the work included an analysis of the rationality of hydrogen production and utilisation. An additional aim of the research was to determine the optimal solution regarding the system performance and the capability of its technical realisation. The obtained results are promising: the system performance is very high, and its operating parameters are technically realisable in today’s conditions. In addition, it enables an emission-free, dispatchable electricity generation during the daytime demand peak.

Based on a review of scholarly literature and statements of IAEA and Ukrainian institutions, we try to attempt to analyze the current problems in nuclear energy of Ukraine during the war based on the example of the seized Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which demonstrates the impact of this situation over global nuclear safety. Our study also outlines some solutions to this ongoing crisis and highlights that there is an urgent need for a new strategic vision at the global level with regard to nuclear safety and environmental protection. The “trial and error” approach is not the desired practice of ensuring nuclear safety in the world and therefore the world must today apply the lessons learned during the war in Ukraine to better protect people and the environment. The current situation in the world is complex and requires reasonable considerations, taking into account social, economic, environmental and geopolitical aspects. The introduction of minimum International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safety standards that are illegally enforceable, the revision of the provisions of the IAEA statute and its amendment by providing the organization with the function of maintaining the harmonization of nuclear requirements, the need to improve the existing IAEA standards in terms of taking measures during the construction of nuclear power plants to protect them from missile attacks, as well as during the operation of NPPs are all analyzed as necessary steps required to solve the issues of improving nuclear safety in Ukraine, Europe, and the world. The cooperation of Ukraine with such states as the USA, Japan, South Korea, France, and the United Kingdom, and the creation of the coalition could help to put pressure on United Nations and IAEA at the international level to withdraw all troops and ammunition supplies from Zaporizhzhia NPP.

To study the principle of loss and heat at the end region of large 4-poles nuclear power turbine generator, 3D transient electromagnetic field and 3D steady temperature field finite element (FE) models of the end region are established respectively. Considering the factors such as rotor motion, core non-linearity and time-varying of electromagnetic field, the anisotropic heat conductivity and different heat dissipation conditions of stator end region, a 50 Hz, 1150 MW, 4-poles nuclear power turbine generator is investigated. The loss and heat at the generator end region are calculated respectively at no-load and rated-load, and the calculation results are compared with the test data. The result shows that the calculation model is accurate and the generator design is suitable. The method is valuable for the research of loss and heat at the end region of large 4-poles nuclear power turbine generator and the improvement of the generator’s operation stability. The method has been applied successfully for the design of the larger nuclear power turbine generators.

Range-gated-imaging system, which can be used to eliminate backscatter in strong scattering environments, is based on two high speed technologies. It uses high power, ultra-short pulse laser as the light source. And it opens the optical gate of an ICCD camera with a micro-channel-plate image intensifier in a very short time while the laser pulses reflected by the object is coming back to the ICCD camera. Using this range-gated-imaging technology, the effect of scattered light can be reduced and a clear image is obtained.

In this paper, the test results of the range-gated-imaging system under dense aerosol environments, which simulates environments in the reactor containment building when the severe accident of the nuclear power plant occurred, are described. To evaluate the observation performance of the range-gated-imaging system under such dense fog environment, we made a test facility. Fog particles are sprayed into the test facility until fog concentration is reached to the postulated concentration level of the severe accident of the nuclear power plant. At such dense fog concentration conditions, we compared and evaluated the observation performances of the range-gated-imaging system and the CCD camera.