Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors in India

Sangh Priy(11642)
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

Abstract
Importance of nuclear energy was recognized as soon as India became independent. The
Atomic energy act, 1948 was published with sole intent to develop nuclear research for peaceful
purposes. The first stage of Indias three stage nuclear power program is energy generation
using Pressurized heavy water reactors, fueled by Natural Uranium and produces Plutonium-
239 as by-product. Out of the 20 operational nuclear reactors of India, eighteen are Pressurized
Heavy Water reactors (PHWR).
This paper brings out the discussion of PHWR in Indian context, highlighting the role of
nuclear energy production by PHWR. This paper also talks why India choose to go for PHWR
rather than BWR and PWR.

1 Keywords
PHWR:Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor,CANDU

2 Introduction
A pressurized heavy-water reactor(PHWR) is a nuclear power reactor, commonly using unen-
riched natural uranium as its fuel, that uses heavy water (deuterium oxide D2O) as its coolant
and moderator. The heavy-water coolant is kept under pressure, allowing it to be heated to
higher temperatures without boiling, much as in a PWR. While heavy water is significantly
more expensive than ordinary light water, it yields greatly enhanced neutron economy, allowing
the reactor to operate without fuel-enrichment facilities (mitigating the additional capital cost
of the heavy water) and generally enhancing the ability of the reactor to efficiently make use
of alternate fuel cycles.
Indias current nuclear power program is based on the Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor
(PHWR). With the exception of the two Boiling Water Reactor units at Tarapur (which is
Indias first Nuclear Power Plant), all other nuclear reactor units of Rajasthan, Kaiga, Kakra-
par, Madras and Narora are based on PHWRs. Two of the four units of Tarapur are also
based on PHWRs. Also India is ready to sell PHWRs of 220 MWe or 540MWe capacity to
other countries. These reactors, which use natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as both
moderator and coolant, offered a basket of options for countries looking for cost-competitive
and proven technologies in the small- and medium-sized reactors.PWR reactors were first built
to power nuclear submarines with larger versions built later on. PWR uses enriched uranium
as fuel and ordinary water as coolant and moderator.
Figure 1 and Figure 2 lists the nuclear power plants in operation and under construction
with their capacities and year of commencement of operation.

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Figure 1: List of nuclear power plants in operation

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 Figure 2: List of nuclear power plants in under construction

3 Reason for choice of PHWR

The choice of PHWR is based on the long-term objectives and availability of resources and
infrastructure. As far as India is concerned, Self-reliance and energy security have been among
the important objectives and beside this existence of adequate resources of uranium and vast
resources of thorium in India made easy choice of PHWR for its Nuclear energy program.
The features of PHWR that favored this choice are:
I. Use of natural uranium as fuel, which obviates the need for developing fuel enrichment
facilities.
II. High neutron economy made possible by use of heavy water as moderator, which means
low requirements of natural uranium both for initial core as well as for subsequent refueling.
Also fissile plutonium production (required for stage 2 of the program) is high, compared to
Light Water Reactors
III. Being a pressure-tube reactor, with no high pressure reactor vessel, the required fabri-
cation technologies were within the capability of indigenous industry.
IV. The technology for production of heavy water, required as moderator and coolant in
PHWR, was available in the country.
The design of PHWR has evolved through a series of improvements over the years in pro-
gressive projects. These improvements have been inspired from evolution in technology, feed-
back from experience in India and abroad, including lessons learnt from incidents and their
precursors, evolving regulatory requirements and cost considerations.

4 Early stage reactor: CANDU reactor

The first PHWRs at Rajasthan Atomic Power Station were of Canadian design,CANDU(CANada
Deuterium Uranium- based on Douglas Point). Work on these was taken up with Canadian
cooperation.For the first unit, most of the equipment were imported from Canada.At the next
station, Madras Atomic Power Station, a number of changes in design were adopted due mainly
to site conditions. The import content in these and subsequent plants was reduced to ten to
fifteen percent.When design work for the third PHWR station, Narora Atomic Power Sta-

3
tion, major modifications were done with the aim of upgrading the designs in line with the
internationally evolving safety standards.
CANDUs first success was the sale of early CANDU designs to India. In 1963, an agreement
was signed for export of a 200 MWe power reactor based on the Douglas Point reactor. The
success of the deal led to the 1966 sale of a second reactor of the same design. The first
reactor, then known as RAPP-1 for Rajasthan Atomic Power Project, began operation in
1972. However, a serious problem with cracking of the reactors end shield led to the reactor
being shut down for long periods, and the reactor was finally downrated to 100 MW.

5 Features of PHWR
Design features are tabulated in the table below.
Some historical features of Indian PHWR are as follows The most significant features of the
PHWR design are
I. Multiple pressure tube configuration instead of a large pressure vessel.
II. The first two reactors (1x100 MWe and 1x200 MWe) were built at Rawatbhata near
Kota in Rajasthan with the Canadian collaboration and became operational in the year 1973
and 1981.
III. Two units located at Kalpakkam near Madras built later were of the same design but
using indigenous technology and were dedicated to the nation in the year 1984 and 1986.
IV. Subsequently, the Reactors at Narora offered first opportunity to our engineers to evolve
an indigenous design based on operating experience and other requirements such as stringent
safety norms and seismic design.2x220 MWe PHWRs at Narora was connected to the grid in
1991 and 1992.
V. 2x220 MWe PHWRs at Kakrapar became operational in 1993 and 1995 followed by the
2x220 MWe PHWRs built at Kaiga and 2x220 MWe PHWRs at Rajasthan in the year 2000.
VI. In 2007, 1x220 MWe PHWR unit at Kaiga became available followed by 1x220 MWe
PHWR in 2011.
VII. 2x220 MWe units at Rajastan became functional in the year 2011. VIII. The design
of 540 MWe PHWR is the next step in the process of evolution and the first two units based
on this design were built at Tarapur. The First Unit was dedicated to the Nation in 2005 and
the second in 2006 and both the units are working well.

6 Citing and plant Layout

As part of siting,zoning requirements are as follows which exist around all Indian Nuclear Power
Stations:
I. An exclusion zone of minimum 1.5 km radius from the reactor center is established. No
public activity is allowed in this area, which is fenced and is under control of the nuclear power
station.
II. A sterilized zone up to 5 km radius around the plant is established where the growth of
population is restricted to enable implementation of emergency measures. In this area, only
natural growth of population is permitted. Any new settlement of activity, which may cause
population influx, is restricted.
III. Emergency planning zone up to 16 km radius from the plant where availability of
transportation network, means of communication are ensured for any emergency situation.

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 Table 1: Design features of Indian standard PHWR 220 MWe(operating)
A.General
Rated output Thermal 756MWt
Rated output Electrical 220MWe
Fuel Natural UO2
Moderator and Reflector Heavy water
Coolant Heavy Water
Type Horizontal Pressure Tube
B.Reactor
Calandria shell Horizontal stepped cylinder welded to extensions of end shield
Calandria shell material SS-304L
End shields Cylindrical box type structure integral with calandria shell
End shield material SS-304L
Calandria tubes
(a) Quantity 306
(b) Material Zircaloy-2
Pressure tubes
(a) Quantity 306
(b) Material Zirconium2.5percent niobium alloy
C.Core and fuel
Fuel material UO2
Cell array square
Lattice pitch 22.9cm
Fuel form pellet
Fuel bundles per channel 13(10.1 in active core)
Fuel element per bundle 19
Geometry 1-6-12 concentric
Total no. of bundles in reactor 3672
Clad material Zircaloy-2
Clad thickness 0.41mm
Length of bundle 495mm
Outside diameter of bundle 81.7mm
Weight of bundle (nominal) 16.4kg
Weight of uranium per bundle 13.4kg
Core radius 300cm
Core length 500cm
Average linear fuel rating 35.3 KW/m
Peak linear fuel rating 50.2 KW/m
Maximum clad temperature 301 degree celcius
Maximum center line temperature 1780 degree celcius
Average fuel discharge burn-up 6700 MW days/t uranium

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Table 2: Continued....Design features of Indian standard PHWR 220 MWe(operating)
D. Moderator
Moderator type Heavy water
Total quantity 136000kg
Quantity in calandria 110000kg
Heat produced in moderator 38.1MW
Outlet temperature from reactor (maximum) 63 degree celcius
Inlet temperature to reactor 44.2 degree celcius
Heavy water flow to each heat exchanger 264.7kg/s
Normal moderator level in calandria 96 percent full tank
E. Primary coolant
Type Heavy Water
Quantity 100000kg
Total flow 1734kg/s
Pressure (outlet header) 8.532 MPa
Channel inlet temperature 249 C
Channel outlet temp. 293 C
No. of primary circulating pumps 4
Type of pumps Centrifugal
F. Reactor shutdown systems
(a) Primary shutdown system 14 mechanical rods
(i) Material Cadmium sandwitch in SS
(ii) Worth of PSS 36 mk

(b) Secondary shutdown system 12 hollow tubes inside calandria

(i) Material (poison)
(ii) Worth of SSS
(c) Liquid poison injection system
G. Reactor control devices
(a) Regulatory rods
(i) Purpose
(ii) Number of regulating rods
(iii)Material
Lithium penta-borate solution
32 mk
Borated heavy water
Regulation of power
4
Cobalt in aluminum tubes

(b) Absorber rods

(i) Purpose Xenon over-riding
(ii) Number of absorber rods 8
(iii)Material Cobalt in aluminum tubes

(c) Shim rods

(i) Purpose Power reduction (setback)
(ii) Number of shim rods 4
(iii)Material Cadmium sandwiched in SS

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 Table 3: Continued...Design features of Indian standard PHWR 220 MWe(operating)
H. Steam generators
No. of steam generators 4
Type Vertical U tube with integral steam drum (mushroom-shaped)
Material Incoloy-800
Steam to turbine 3.923 MPa
No. of tubes per SG 1834
Total steam flow to turbine 370 kg/s
Steam temperature 251 C
Maximum moisture content 0.25 percent
I.Turbine
Type Tandem compound (one HP-5 stages and double flow LP-5 stages)
Speed 3000 rpm
Rating 235 MWe
Steam flow 370 kg/s
Generator One direct coupled, hydrogen cooled rotor, 50 Hz
J. Process water system
Active process water system
(i)Purpose To remove heat from moderator, endshield, calandria vault water, etc.
(ii)Active process water coolant Demineralized light water closed loop system
(iii)Heat exchangers Plate Type
Active process water cooling system
(i) Purpose remove heat from it by plate type heat exchangers
(ii) Active PW cooling water Raw water from reservoir/canal

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7 Conclusion
India has emerged as leader in PHWR followed by Canada, Romania,Argentina,and Republic
of Korea.In pursuit of the peaceful uses of Atomic Energy,power generation based on nu-
clear energy assumes first and foremost place and India has achieved many milestones in this
area.A well planned program for the progressive expansion for the tapping of atomic energy
for electricity keeping in view of the countrys future requirements for increased power gener-
ation capacity and available resources has been under implementation.A strong R and D base
has been established and functions as a back bone for the smooth transition of the research
and development activities to the deployment phase and thereby realizing the Department of
Atomic Energys mandate. Indigenous technology development in the areas of fuel reprocess-
ing,enrichment,production of special materials,computers,lasers,accelerators represents a whole
spectrum of activities necessary for realizing full potential of our energy resources to meet future
energy needs.

8 References
http://www.iaea.org/km/cnkm/papers/kumarindia.pdf
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/ pii/S0029549306000707?np=y
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHWR