The operators’ jobs are likely to be much less demanding and stressful now than before. This substantially reduced the potential for human error. 6, the plant operators can be relieved of a considerable amount of their workload monitoring the reactors amid the ongoing uncertainties around the site. Now, at least if the plant loses offsite power, the operators won’t have to worry about cooling an operating reactor with cranky diesel generators.Īnd by shutting down reactor No. 6 is now in a cold shutdown state like the facility’s five other reactors, and will require less power for cooling. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported that reactor No. These reactors need constant cooling, and the cooling pumps are gigantic, powerful, electricity-guzzling machines.Ĭold shutdown is the state in which you do not need to constantly run the primary cooling pumps at the same level to circulate the cooling water in the primary cooling loop. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is a pressurized water reactor. The shutdown has removed a huge element of risk. How does being in cold shutdown improve the plant’s safety? The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant uses pressurized water reactors. When a reactor is in cold shutdown, it no longer needs the same level of circulation. When the reactor is operating, it requires cooling to absorb the heat and keep the fuel rods from melting together, which would set off a catastrophic chain reaction. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, once the temperature is below 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93 Celsius) and the reactor coolant system is at atmospheric pressure, the reactor is in cold shutdown. The reactor is then in cooldown mode as the temperature decreases. Shutting down a nuclear reactor involves inserting control rods between the fuel rods to stop the fission reaction. The fission reaction that generates heat in a nuclear power plant is produced by positioning a number of uranium fuel rods in close proximity. What does it mean to have a nuclear reactor in cold shutdown?
The Conversation asked Najmedin Meshkati, a professor and nuclear safety expert at the University of Southern California, to explain cold shutdown, what it means for the safety of the nuclear power plant, and the ongoing risks to the plant’s spent fuel, which is uranium that has been largely but not completely depleted by the fission reaction that drives nuclear power plants. The operators have put the reactor in cold shutdown to minimize the risk of a radiation leak from combat in the area around the nuclear power plant. 11, 2022, that it was shutting down the last operating reactor of the plant’s six reactors, reactor No. Read it here.Įnergoatom, operator of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar, announced on Sept.
An updated version of this article was published on June 6, 2023.
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