What is a nuclear power plant?
NUCLEAR technology was used in the 1940s to make bombs, but has been developed to generate energy since the 1950s.
Around a tenth of the world’s electricity, and a fifth of the United States’ electricity comes from nuclear energy.
What is a nuclear power plant?
Nuclear power plants (NPP) are thermal power stations that use nuclear reactors to generate energy.
NPPs generate electricity through nuclear fission, a process where low-enriched uranium atoms are split in a nuclear reactor.
In June 1954 the first nuclear power plant began operating in Obninsk, USSR.
The world’s first full-scale power station opened in Calder Hall in Northern England two years later.
How does a nuclear power plant work?
Nuclear power is regarded as a largely clean and efficient means of energy production.
NPPs produce electricity through nuclear fission, this is the process of splitting atoms.
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In order to generate electricity, bundles of uranium rods are used as nuclear fuel and are inserted into a nuclear reactor.
The rods of uranium are placed into the reactor where they are surrounded by water.
The reactor splits the uranium atoms which causes the water in the reactor to boil, this produces steam which spins the turbines and produces electricity.
Nuclear fission like this is seen as an efficient method of energy production.
This is because the amount of energy created from one uranium pellet is equal to the amount generated from a ton of coal.
Nuclear fission does not emit greenhouse gasses and can generate electricity on a large scale, without interruption or the creation of harmful by-products.
How many nuclear power plants are there?
According to data from the World Nuclear Association there are around 440 nuclear power reactors currently in operation across 32 different countries.
World Nuclear Association data shows that nuclear plants supplied 2553 terrawatt/hour (TWh) of electricity in 2020 and 2657 TWh in 2020.
Previously, nuclear energy saw seven consecutive annual increases in production.
There are 11 nuclear reactors in five locations in operation across the UK.
According to Statista, of the UK’s 11 nuclear power plants, the operating capacity was highest at Sizewell B on the Suffolk coast, with a total of 1,198 megawatts as of 2021.
Approximately 55 new reactors are under construction, in 19 different countries including Russia, China and India and the United Arab Emirates. Another 30 countries are considering new nuclear programmes.
An additional 220 nuclear research reactors exist in over 50 countries for training purposes and production of medical materials.