Nuclear power plant(NPP) - a nuclear installation for the production of energy in specified modes and conditions of use, located within the territory defined by the project, in which a nuclear reactor (reactors) and a complex of necessary systems, devices, equipment and structures with the necessary workers are used for this purpose

Advantages and disadvantages

The main advantage is the practical independence from fuel sources due to the small amount of fuel used, for example, 54 fuel assemblies with a total weight of 41 tons per power unit with a VVER-1000 reactor in 1-1.5 years (for comparison, Troitskaya GRES alone with a capacity of 2000 MW burns per day, two railway trains of coal). The cost of transporting nuclear fuel, unlike the traditional one, is negligible. In Russia, this is especially important in the European part, since the delivery of coal from Siberia is too expensive.

A huge advantage of a nuclear power plant is its relative environmental cleanliness. At TPPs, the total annual emissions of harmful substances, which include sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon oxides, hydrocarbons, aldehydes and fly ash, per 1000 MW of installed capacity range from about 13,000 tons per year for gas and up to 165,000 tons for pulverized coal TPPs . There are no such emissions at nuclear power plants. A thermal power plant with a capacity of 1000 MW consumes 8 million tons of oxygen per year for fuel oxidation, while nuclear power plants do not consume oxygen at all. In addition, a larger specific (per unit of electricity produced) release of radioactive substances is produced by a coal-fired power plant. Coal always contains natural radioactive substances; when coal is burned, they almost completely enter the external environment. At the same time, the specific activity of emissions from thermal power plants is several times higher than for nuclear power plants. The only factor in which NPPs are inferior in environmental terms to traditional IESs is thermal pollution caused by high consumption of process water for cooling turbine condensers, which is slightly higher for NPPs due to lower efficiency (no more than 35%), but this factor is important for water ecosystems, and modern nuclear power plants mainly have their own artificially created cooling reservoirs or are completely cooled by cooling towers. Also, some nuclear power plants remove part of the heat for the needs of heating and hot water supply of cities, which reduces unproductive heat losses, there are existing and promising projects for the use of "excess" heat in energy-biological complexes (fish farming, growing oysters, heating greenhouses, etc.). In addition, in the future, it is possible to implement projects for combining nuclear power plants with gas turbines, including as "superstructures" at existing nuclear power plants, which can make it possible to achieve an efficiency similar to that of thermal power plants.

For most countries, including Russia, the production of electricity at nuclear power plants is not more expensive than at pulverized-coal and, even more so, gas-oil thermal power plants. The advantage of nuclear power plants in the cost of electricity produced is especially noticeable during the so-called energy crises that began in the early 1970s. The fall in oil prices automatically reduces the competitiveness of nuclear power plants.

According to estimates compiled on the basis of projects implemented in the 2000s, the cost of building a nuclear power plant is approximately $2,300 per kW of electric power, this figure may decrease with the mass construction ($1,200 for coal thermal power plants, $950 for gas). Forecasts for the cost of projects currently being implemented converge on the figure of $ 2,000 per kW (35% higher than for coal, 45% - gas TPPs).

The main disadvantage of NPPs is the severe consequences of accidents, to avoid which NPPs are equipped with the most complex safety systems with multiple reserves and redundancy, ensuring the exclusion of core meltdown even in the event of a maximum design basis accident (local complete transverse rupture of the reactor circulation circuit pipeline).

A serious problem for nuclear power plants is their elimination after the end of their resource, according to estimates, it can be up to 20% of the cost of their construction

For a number of technical reasons, it is extremely undesirable for nuclear power plants to work in maneuvering modes, that is, covering the variable part of the electrical load schedule

Thermal (steam turbine) power plant: Power plants that convert the thermal energy of fuel combustion into electrical energy are called thermal (steam turbine). Some of their advantages and disadvantages are listed below.

Advantages 1. The fuel used is quite cheap. 2. Require less capital investment compared to other power plants. 3. Can be built anywhere regardless of fuel availability. Fuel can be transported to the location of the power plant by rail or road. 4. They occupy a smaller area compared to hydroelectric power plants. 5. The cost of generating electricity is less than that of diesel power plants.

disadvantages 1. They pollute the atmosphere by emitting a large amount of smoke and soot into the air. 2. Higher operating costs compared to hydro power plants

Hydroelectric power plant (HPP)- a power plant that uses the energy of a water stream as an energy source. Hydroelectric power plants are usually built on rivers by constructing dams and reservoirs.

Boguchanskaya HPP. 2010 The newest hydroelectric power station in Russia

Two main factors are necessary for the efficient production of electricity at hydroelectric power plants: a guaranteed supply of water all year round and the possible large slopes of the river, canyon-like topography favors hydro construction

geothermal energy- this is the energy of heat that is released from the inner zones of the Earth over hundreds of millions of years. According to geological and geophysical studies, the temperature in the Earth's core reaches 3,000-6,000 °C, gradually decreasing in the direction from the center of the planet to its surface. Thousands of volcanoes erupt, blocks move earth's crust, earthquakes testify to the action of the powerful internal energy of the Earth. Scientists believe that the thermal field of our planet is due to radioactive decay in its depths, as well as the gravitational separation of the core matter.
The main sources of heating the bowels of the planet are uranium, thorium and radioactive potassium. The processes of radioactive decay on the continents occur mainly in the granitic layer of the earth's crust at a depth of 20-30 km or more, in the oceans - in the upper mantle. It is assumed that at the bottom of the earth's crust at a depth of 10-15 km, the probable temperature value on the continents is 600-800 ° C, and in the oceans - 150-200 ° C.
A person can use geothermal energy only where it manifests itself close to the Earth's surface, i.e. in areas of volcanic and seismic activity. Now geothermal energy is effectively used by such countries as the USA, Italy, Iceland, Mexico, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Philippines, Hungary, El Salvador. Here, the internal heat of the earth rises to the very surface in the form hot water and steam with temperatures up to 300 ° C and often breaks out as the heat of gushing sources (geysers), for example, the famous geysers of Yellowstone Park in the USA, the geysers of Kamchatka, Iceland.
Geothermal energy sources divided into dry hot steam, wet hot steam and hot water. The well, which is an important source of energy for electric railway in Italy (near the city of Larderello), since 1904 it has been feeding dry hot steam. Two other well-known places in the world with hot dry steam are the Matsukawa field in Japan and the geyser field near San Francisco, where geothermal energy has also been used effectively for a long time. Most of all in the world of wet hot steam is located in New Zealand (Wairakei), geothermal fields of slightly less power - in Mexico, Japan, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Russia.
Thus, four main types of resources can be distinguished geothermal energy:
surface heat of the earth used by heat pumps;
energy resources of steam, hot and warm water near the earth's surface, which are now used in the production of electrical energy;
heat concentrated deep below the surface of the earth (perhaps in the absence of water);
magma energy and heat that accumulates under volcanoes.

Geothermal heat reserves (~ 8 * 1030J) are 35 billion times the annual global energy consumption. Only 1% of the geothermal energy of the earth's crust (depth of 10 km) can provide an amount of energy that is 500 times greater than all the world's oil and gas reserves. However, today only a small part of these resources can be used, and this is due primarily to economic reasons. The beginning of the industrial development of geothermal resources (energy of hot deep waters and steam) was laid in 1916, when the first geothermal power plant with a capacity of 7.5 MW was put into operation in Italy. Over the past time, considerable experience has been accumulated in the field of practical development of geothermal energy resources. The total installed capacity of operating geothermal power plants (GeoTPP) was: 1975 - 1,278 MW, in 1990 - 7,300 MW. The United States, the Philippines, Mexico, Italy, and Japan have achieved the greatest progress in this matter.
The technical and economic parameters of the GeoTPP vary over a fairly wide range and depend on the geological characteristics of the area (depth of occurrence, parameters of the working fluid, its composition, etc.). For the majority of commissioned GeoTPPs, the cost of electricity is similar to the cost of electricity produced at coal-fired TPPs, and amounts to 1200 ... 2000 US dollars / MW.
In Iceland, 80% of residential buildings are heated with hot water extracted from geothermal wells under the city of Reykjavik. In the western United States, about 180 homes and farms are heated by geothermal hot water. According to experts, between 1993 and 2000, global electricity generation from geothermal energy more than doubled. There are so many reserves of geothermal heat in the United States that it could theoretically provide 30 times more energy than the state currently consumes.
In the future, it is possible to use the heat of magma in those areas where it is located close to the Earth's surface, as well as the dry heat of heated crystalline rocks. In the latter case, wells are drilled for several kilometers, cold water is pumped down, and hot water is returned back.

"Nuclear Energy" - Economic growth and energy Innovative scenario MEDT. Nuclear power and economic growth. Nuclear power and other types of generation. Source: World Bank (IFC). Source: General layout of electric power facilities until 2020. Source: Ministry of Energy. Source: Tomsk Polytechnic University study.

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"Atomic Energy" - Zaporozhye NPP. Prospects for nuclear energy. As you know, the work of nuclear power plants is based on the splitting of uranium into atoms. It is best to turn such "garbage" into glass and ceramics. Radioactive waste is generated at almost all stages of the nuclear cycle. Advantages of nuclear energy.

Since ancient times, the Earth has been a source of energy resources, but, recognizing this fact, we must also recognize that non-renewable energy sources are not endless. For the sake of heating their homes, people have already abandoned firewood and no longer burn forests, almost excluded the extraction of coal, recognizing that this causes environmental harm to the habitat. But oil and gas production is in full swing. Meanwhile, our planet also has a renewable source of energy in reserve - the power of its geothermal waters.

Warmth from the depths of the planet

Using the Earth's heat is a very tempting idea and a difficult, but generally solvable, task. This is especially true for regions where geothermal springs come to the surface, or at least are within reach, both from an engineering and economic point of view. But the location of such sources, as a rule, is adjacent to the tectonic faults of the planet and is located in extremely seismically unstable regions.

Superheated steam and/or water capable of turning turbines to generate electricity is a "by-product" of volcanoes and geysers. At the same time, on the planet, many people live in a dangerous neighborhood with such formidable forces of nature. Therefore, the use of these forces for the benefit of people is mainly a matter of time: with the development of technology, this type of energy will become more accessible, and the power of geothermal stations will also increase.

Geothermal power plants: advantages and disadvantages

There are several circuit diagrams construction of such power plants and, usually, the choice depends on the specific heat source: somewhere it is enough to drill a well and you can start its operation, and somewhere it is first necessary to clean the incoming energy carrier from solid particles and harmful gases.

But, whatever the principle of operation of such a plant, it has a number of advantages over thermal power plants and even over thermal nuclear power plants.

There is only one disadvantage of a geothermal station: in the end, it comes down to its location. Considering that seismic activity cannot be predicted, the areas of tectonic faults are an extremely unfavorable place for the construction and subsequent operation of power plants.

But the benefits are numerous and undeniable:

• safety for the environment, including the absence of greenhouse gases;
• compact size of the station;
• the main costs end with the completion of construction, while the costs of operation are minimal;
• Due to the natural heat carrier (a practically inexhaustible resource!) the cost of electrical energy is reduced to almost zero.

More about ecology

With the development of society, its environmental consciousness grows, the problems of rational nature management come to the fore. Leading economic powers, including Russia, are signing protocols to limit emissions into the atmosphere in an effort to reduce the harm from greenhouse effect and prevent global warming. TPPs that use gas, refined products and, especially, coal to generate electricity as fuel, have a significant impact on the growth of atmospheric pollution.

Nothing can be done about the fact that there is an environmental disadvantage of thermal power plants. It is possible to try to reduce emissions due to more complete combustion of fuel, through the use of advanced filter systems, but one cannot get away from the "generic" lack of thermal energy.

Therefore, the main question that arises in connection with the use of thermal energy is what environmental benefits does a geothermal power plant have? Using water and steam heated by nature itself, such power plants do not produce emissions. Minimizes the damage caused environment and small dimensions of such stations. So, the advantages of geothermal power plants over thermal power plants are beyond doubt.

The resources of our planet are not endless. Using natural hydrocarbons as the main source of energy, humanity runs the risk of discovering at one fine moment that they have been exhausted and come to a global crisis in the consumption of familiar goods. The 20th century was a time of large-scale shifts in the field of energy. Scientists and economists in different countries seriously thought about new methods of obtaining and renewable sources of electricity and heat. The greatest progress has been made in the field of nuclear research, but interesting ideas concerning beneficial use others natural phenomena. Scientists have long known that our planet is hot inside. To benefit from deep-seated heat, geothermal power plants have been created. There are not many of them in the world yet, but perhaps in time there will be more. What are their prospects, are they not dangerous, and can one count on a high share of gas turbine power plants in the total amount of energy produced?

First steps

In the daring search for new sources of energy, scientists considered many options. The possibilities of mastering the energy of the ebbs and flows of the World Ocean, the transformation of sunlight were studied. They also remembered the old windmills, supplying them with generators instead of stone millstones. Of great interest are geothermal power plants capable of generating energy from the heat of the lower hot layers of the earth's crust.

In the mid-sixties, the USSR did not experience a shortage of resources, but the power supply of the national economy, nevertheless, left much to be desired. The reason for lagging behind the industrialized countries in this area was not the lack of coal, oil or fuel oil. The huge distances from Brest to Sakhalin made it difficult to deliver energy, it became very expensive. Soviet scientists and engineers proposed the most daring solutions to this problem, and some of them were implemented.

In 1966, the Pauzhetskaya geothermal power plant began operating in Kamchatka. Its power amounted to a rather modest figure of 5 megawatts, but this was quite enough to supply nearby settlements(settlements of Ozernovsky, Shumnoy, Pauzhetka, villages of Ust-Bolsheretsky district) and industrial enterprises, mainly fish canning plants. The station was experimental, and today we can safely say that the experiment was a success. Volcanoes Kambalny and Koshelev are used as heat sources. The conversion was carried out by two turbine-generator type units, initially 2.5 MW each. A quarter of a century later, the installed capacity was raised to 11 MW. The old equipment completely exhausted its resource only in 2009, after which a complete reconstruction was carried out, which included the laying of additional coolant pipelines. The experience of successful operation prompted power engineers to build other geothermal power plants. There are five of them in Russia today.

How does it work

Initial data: there is heat in the depths of the earth's crust. It must be converted into energy, for example, electrical. How to do it? The principle of operation of a geothermal power plant is quite simple. Water is pumped underground through a special well, called an input or injection well (in English injection, that is, "injection"). In order to determine the appropriate depth, a geological study is required. Near the layers heated by magma, in the end, an underground flowing pool should form, which plays the role of a heat exchanger. Water is strongly heated and turns into steam, which is fed through another well (working or production) to the blades of the turbine associated with the generator axis. At first glance, everything looks very simple, but in practice, geothermal power plants are much more complicated and have various design features due to operational problems.

Advantages of geothermal energy

This method of obtaining energy has undeniable advantages. First, geothermal power plants do not require fuel, the reserves of which are limited. Secondly, operating costs are reduced to the costs of technically regulated work on the planned replacement of components and maintenance of the technological process. The payback period for investments is several years. Thirdly, such stations can conditionally be considered environmentally friendly. There are, however, sharp moments in this paragraph, but about them later. Fourthly, no additional energy is required for technological needs, pumps and other energy receivers are powered from the extracted resources. Fifth, the installation, in addition to its intended purpose, can desalinate the waters of the World Ocean, on the shores of which geothermal power plants are usually built. There are pros and cons, however, in this case as well.

disadvantages

Everything looks great in the photos. The hulls and installations are aesthetically pleasing, no black smoke rises above them, only white steam. However, not everything is as perfect as it seems. If geothermal power plants are located near settlements, the residents of the surrounding area are annoyed by the noise produced by the enterprises. But this is only the visible (or rather, audible) part of the problem. When drilling deep wells, you can never foresee what exactly will come out of them. It could be toxic gas mineral water(not always curative) or even oil. Of course, if geologists stumble upon a layer of minerals, then this is even good, but such a discovery may well completely change the usual way of life of local residents, so permission to conduct even research work regional authorities are extremely reluctant to give. In general, it is quite difficult to choose a place for a GTPP, because as a result of its operation, a sinkhole may well occur. Conditions inside the earth's crust are changing, and if the heat source loses its thermal potential over time, construction costs will be in vain.

How to choose a seat

Despite the numerous risks, geothermal power plants are being built in different countries. There are advantages and disadvantages to any method of obtaining energy. The question is how available other resources are. After all, energy independence is one of the foundations of state sovereignty. A country may not have mineral resources, but it may have many volcanoes, like Iceland, for example.

It should be taken into account that the presence of geologically active zones is an indispensable condition for the development of the geothermal energy industry. But when deciding on the construction of such a facility, it is necessary to take into account safety issues, therefore, as a rule, geothermal power plants are not built in densely populated areas.

The next important point is the availability of conditions for cooling the working fluid (water). An ocean or sea coast is quite suitable as a place for a GTPP.

Kamchatka

Russia is rich in all kinds natural resources, but this does not mean that there is no need to take care of them. Geothermal power plants are being built in Russia, and in recent decades, more and more actively. They partially meet the need for energy supply in remote areas of Kamchatka and the Kuriles. In addition to the already mentioned Pauzhetskaya GTPP, a 12-megawatt Verkhne-Mutnovskaya GTPP was put into operation in Kamchatka (1999). Much more powerful than its Mutnovskaya geothermal power plant (80 MW), located near the same volcano. Together they provide more than a third of the energy consumed by the region.

Kuriles

The Sakhalin region is also suitable for the construction of geothermal power generating enterprises. There are two of them here: Mendeleevskaya and Okeanskaya GTES.

The Mendeleevskaya GTPP is designed to solve the problem of power supply to the island of Kunashir, on which the urban-type settlement of Yuzhno-Kurilsk is located. The name of the station was not in honor of the great Russian chemist: this is the name of the island volcano. Construction began in 1993, nine years later the enterprise was put into operation. Initially, the capacity was 1.8 MW, but after the modernization and launch of the next two stages, it reached five.

In the Kuril Islands, on the island of Iturup, in the same 1993, another GTPP was laid down, which was called "Oceanskaya". It started operating in 2006, and a year later it reached its design capacity of 2.5 MW.

World experience

Russian scientists and engineers became pioneers in many branches of applied science, but geothermal power plants were still invented abroad. The world's first GTPP (250 kW) was Italian, began operation in 1904, its turbine was rotated by steam coming from a natural source. Prior to this, such phenomena were used only for medical and spa purposes.

At present, Russia's position in the field of geothermal heat use cannot be called advanced either: a negligible percentage of electricity generated in the country comes from five stations. Most great importance these alternative sources are for the economy of the Philippines: they account for one kilowatt out of every five produced in the republic. Other countries have moved forward, including Mexico, Indonesia and the United States.

In the CIS

The level of development of geothermal energy is influenced to a greater extent not by the technological “advancement” of a particular country, but by the awareness of its leadership of the urgent need for alternative sources. Of course, there is also “know-how” regarding methods for dealing with scale in heat exchangers, methods for controlling generators and other electrical parts of the system, but all this methodology has long been known to specialists. Great interest in the construction of GeoTPP in last years manifested by many post-Soviet republics. In Tajikistan, the areas that are the geothermal wealth of the country are being studied, the construction of a 25-megawatt Jermahbyur station in Armenia (Syunik region) is underway, and relevant studies are being conducted in Kazakhstan. The hot springs of the Brest region have become a subject of interest for Belarusian geologists: they have begun trial drilling of the two-kilometer well Vychulkovskaya. In general, geoenergy is likely to have a future.

However, the heat of the Earth must be handled with care. This natural resource is also limited.