Power Plant Engineering

13.17 NUCLEAR POWER PLANT AND THE ENVIRONMENT
In the United States, and doubtless in almost all countries constructing nuclear power plants,
federal licensing proceedings for each plant require the inclusion of detailed environmental statements
to be issued as public documents. In the United States, these should be in accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Such statements must assess not only the impact upon the
environment that is associated with the construction and the operation of the power plant, but also the
effect of the transportation of radioactive materials to and from that plant.

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POWER PLANT ENGINEERING
Besides thermal pollution, which it shares with almost all types of power plants, nuclear power’s
effects on the environment stem mainly from
(1) the nuclear fuel cycle,
(2) low-level dose radiations from nuclear-power plant effluents, and (3) low and high-level dose
radiations from wastes.
13.17.1 THE FUEL CYCLE
Most nuclear power plants in operation or under construction in the world today are using, and
will continue to use for the near future, ordinary (light) water cooled and moderated reactors: the Pres-
surized Water Reactor (PWR) and the Boiling Water Reactor (BWR). A small number use the heavy
water cooled and moderated reactor (PHWR). The expectations are that the fast-breeder reactor power
plant and perhaps an improved version of the gas-cooled reactor power plant will come on line in
increasing numbers in the twenty-first century. Almost all-current water reactors use slightly enriched
uranium dioxide, UO
2
, fuel. The fuel has to go through a cycle that includes prereactor preparation,
called the front end, in-reactor use, and post reactor management, called the back end.
Front end
Back end
Spend fuel storage
Fuel reprocessing
High-level
waste
Plutonium
Uranium
Fedral repository
Exploration-mining
Miling
Processing
Enriching
Fuel fabrication
Front end
Back end
Spend fuel storage
High-level
waste
Fedral repository
Exploration-mining
Miling
Processing
Enriching
Fuel fabrication
(a)
(b)