Nuclear Power Plant

A nuclear power plant is similar to a standard thermal power plant. There is one important exception and that is the heat source in the nuclear power plant is a nuclear reactor. The heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity. The heat is produced by fission in a nuclear reactor. Then it passes into the primary cooling water. The nuclear power plant usually consists of two main buildings ‒ the containment building and turbine building. The first one houses a nuclear reactor and its pressurizer, pumps, steam generators, and other devices. In the turbine building is equipment, which is used for converting thermal energy to mechanical work used to drive the generator. The nuclear power plant can also have a cooling tower. The USA tops the list of the number of nuclear reactors, with nearly 100 operational nuclear reactors, providing a total net electricity capacity of 98,708 megawatts. Next on the list is France, with 58 reactors, and Japan is in third place. Worldwide there are currently 438 operational nuclear reactors, with a further 67 under construction.