Nuclear
Reactors
Mankind is searching tirelessly for new power sources as the conventional sources of power generation are limited. Moreover, the world demand for electric power is doubling after every decade due to booming increase in population. It is estimated that the present fossil fuels will not last more than few decades to supply the rapid increasing demand of electric power.
The
discovery
of
the
fission
of
uranium
was
of
tremendous
importance
as
it
opened
the
prospects
of
using
the
energy
stored
in
the
atomic
nucleus
for
the
production
of
electric
power.
Presently,
the
nuclear
energy
enormously
enlarged
the
world's
power
sources.
The
present
estimates
reveal
that
fissionable
uranium
alone
contains
far
more
energy
than
all
the
world's
reserves
of
coal
and
petroleum
put
together.
This
figure
further
increases
several
fold
if
one
takes
the
account
the
possibility
of
obtaining
nuclear
fuel
from
thorium
An
unique
feature
of
nuclear
energy
is
an
exceptionally
high
degree
of
concentration
which
exceeds
by
millions
of
times
the
concentration
of
energy
in
the
conventional
fossil
fuels.
For
example
,the
energy
of
one
kg
of
uranium
is
equivalent
to
about
20
x
106
KW-hrs
of
heat
energy
or
burning
of
2000
tons
or
high
grade
coal.
The
first
nuclear
reactor
was
built
under
the
strict
security
arrangements
in
the
squash
court
under
the
University
of
Chicago's
Stagg
Field
Stadium
by
Fermi
and
his
collaborators.
The
Chicago
pile
diverged
on
2nd
December
1942
which
was
an
epochal
event
in
the
history
of
power
development.
A
number
of
reactors
were
built
following
the
success
of
the
Chicago
pile
which
was
used
for
the
production
of
plutonium
fuel
for
military
purposes.
World's
first
atomic
power
plant
of
5
MW
capacity
for
industrial
purposes
was
commissioned
in
U.S.S.R.
on
June
27,
1954
and
this
date
is
regarded
as
the
birth
of
new
source
of
power
generation.
The
next
nuclear
Calder
Hall
power
plant
in
cumerland
was
commissioned
in
October
19_6
to
feed
the
electricity
to
the
national
grid
of
U.S.A.
Many
nuclear
power
stations
are
now
operational throughout the world and it is estimated that the major source of power generation by the end of twentieth century would be nuclear.
The nuclear power generation in India has just started and is steadily increasing.
As
mentioned
earlier,
among
the
developing
countries,
India
is
progressing
well
in
accepting
the
nuclear
energy
for
electric
power
production.
As
nuclear
resources'
are
concerned.
India
is
one
of
the
richest
countries
in
the
world.
The
total
uranium
in
India
is
nearly
32000
tonnes
and
thorium
is
500,000
tonnes
which
would
be
sufficient
for
thousands
of
years
to
fulfill
the
power
need
of
the
country
provided
thorium
is
used
power
generation
in
future.
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