At the same time, the remainder is rearranged to a location in the core better suited to its remaining level of enrichment. During refueling, every 12 to 18 months, some of the fuel – usually one-third or one-quarter of the core – is removed to the spent fuel pool. During these 4 years, the reactor core has to be refueled. Once loaded, the fuel stays in the core for 4 years, depending on the design of the operating cycle. Generally, a common fuel assembly contains energy for approximately 4 years of operation at full power. The assemblies are exactly placed in the reactor according to a fuel loading pattern.Ī typical 1000 MWe (3000 MWth) nuclear core may contain 157 fuel assemblies composed of over 45,000 fuel rods and 15 million fuel pellets. The reactor’s core contains all the nuclear fuel assemblies and generates most of the heat (fraction of the heat is generated outside the reactor – e.g., gamma rays energy). This thermal power is generated in a reactor core, which contains especially the nuclear fuel (fuel assemblies), the moderator, and the control rods. In modern nuclear power plants, the overall thermodynamic efficiency is about one-third (33%), so 3000 MWth of thermal power from the fission reaction is needed to generate 1000 MWe of electrical power. The turbines are heat engines subject to the efficiency limitations imposed by the second law of thermodynamics.
#Nuclear power factorio generator#
As is typical in all conventional thermal power stations, the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces electricity. The heat source in the nuclear power plant is a nuclear reactor. A typical nuclear power plant has an electric-generating capacity of 1000 MWe.
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