Course10510600170 lectures
The Nuclear Energy Option
Prof. Sreenivas Jayanti · IIT Madras
About
Against the backdrop of concerns about climate change and global warming, nuclear energy is being viewed as a viable and economical option to produce carbon dioxide-free electricity on a large scale. Although about 10% of world’s electricity is being produced from nuclear sources and there are more than 400 large nuclear power plants operating worldwide, some of them for decades, there are debates and discussions about harnessing nuclear energy on an even larger scale. This course offers insight into the technology—both conventional and emerging--of nuclear power generation. After a brief review of essential nuclear physics concepts, the course presents the fundamental ideas and engineering practices related to nuclear reactor physics, thermal hydraulics, reactor kinetics and operation. Issues related to reactor safety, fuel processing, radioactive waste disposal, advanced reactor configurations are examined indepth. The course will be useful for aspiring nuclear engineers and energy planners.
Prerequisites: Sciences-based 10 Basic science and engineering curriculum of traditional BE programmes like aerospace, applied mechanics, chemical, civil, mechanical, metallurgy.
Lectures
Week 1
- Essential Nuclear physics: Basic atom and Nuclear Physics
- Nuclear forces, Binding energy, Radio-activity
- Radioactive Decay of isotopes, Decay chain of 238-U
- Interaction of Neutrons with Atomic Nuclei
- Nuclear fission and Fission vs Fusion
- Radiation Hazard and Health Effects
- Measures of Exposure to Radiation
Week 2
- Neutron-Nucleus Interatcions: Scattering, Interaction, Radiative capture
- Radiative capture (continuation), Nuclear fission, Fissile and fertile nuclei
- Fissile and fertile nuclei (continuation)
- Neutron interaction rates and cross-sections, Absorption cross-section of Boron and Gadalonium
- Cross-sections and neutron interation rates of Uranium
Week 3
- Sustaining a chain reaction in nuclear reactor, cross-sections for uranium, conditions for criticality
- Microscopic cross-sections of U-238 and U-235, Thermalizing neutrons
- Cross-sections of Plutonium and Uranium Isotopes
- Components of Nuclear Reactor, Types of Nuclear Power Plant
- Fast Neutron Reactors and Breeder Reactors
Week 4
- Reactor Core Physics: Neutron Life in Thermal Neutron Reactor, Homogeneous Nuclear Reactor
- Neutron Multiplication Factor
- Thermal neutron life cycle and the multiplication factor concept
- Neutron Multiplication Factor in a Finite Reactor, Mono-energetic Neutron Diffusion Theory,
- Non-leakage probability, Calculation of Critical Core Size,
Week 5
- Power Generation from Nuclear Reactors
- Critical Heat Flux and thermal hydraulics
- Pressure drop fundamentals
- Heat transfer fundamentals
- Thermal hydraulics calculations for a nuclear power plant
Week 6
- Rankine Cycle Based Power Generation
- Rankine Cycle Based Power Generation in PWRs and BWRs
- Brayton Cycle and Combined Cycle
- Rankine Cycle for HTGRs
- Rankine Cycle for BWRs and PWRs
Week 7
- Role of Delayed Neutrons in Reactor Control
- Point Kinetics of Nuclear Reactor
- Reactivity Feedback Effects in a Nuclear Reactor
- Response of nuclear reactor to reactivity changes
- Agents of Long-term Reactivity Changes
- Load-following Characteristics of Nuclear Power Plants
Week 8
- Reactor Safety and Radiation Hazards
- Desiging for Reactor Safety
- Defense in Depth Philosphy of Reactor Design
- Redundancy Philosophy in Engineered Safety Sytems
- Safety Assessment Analysis
Week 9
- Scenarios for Safety Analyses
- Core melt accident scenario
- The Three Mile Island Reactor Accident
- The Chernobyl Reactor Accident
- Chernobyl Reactor Accident (continous)
- Fukushima reactor structure and accident
- Aftermath of Fukushima accident
Week 10
- Generation I, II, III+ and IV reactors
- Advanced Light Water Reactors
- India's three-stage nuclear energy programme
- Generation IV Reactors
- Fast Neutron Reactors 1
- Fast Neutron Reactors 2
- Small Modular Reactors
Week 11
- Fueling Options for Nuclear Reactors
- Uranium mining and purification
- Uranium enrichment and fuel preparation
- Fuel Fabrication, TRISO Fuelled Reactors
- Fuel Reprocessing, PUREX process
- Nuclear Proliferation and Fuel Reprocessing
Week 12
Syllabus and materials
At NPTEL, as the course publishes them.
Credits and licence
- Institution
- IIT Madras
- Department
- Civil Engineering
- Teacher
- Prof. Sreenivas Jayanti
- Level
- Undergraduate
- Language
- English
- Subjects
- Engineering
- Source
- NPTEL
- Licence
- CC BY-NC-SA, as NPTEL states it. Non-commercial use only. NPTEL's terms
- Attribution
- NPTEL states: "Distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike / CC BY - NC - SA", beside a BY-NC-SA badge.
- Who can watch
- NPTEL gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Tweens profiles and older, judged from what the source says about it. How courses are placed