Chapter 24. -NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS 



Instead of a boiler, however, the nuclear pro- 

 pulsion plant utilizes a pressurized water re- 

 actor as the heat source and a steam generator 

 as a heat exchanger to generate the steam used 

 to drive the propulsion turbines. 



The steam generator is a heat exchanger in 

 which the primary coolant transfers heat to the 

 secondary system (boiler water) by conduction. 

 The water in the secondary side of the steam 

 generator, being at lower pressure, changes 

 from the physical state of water to the physical 

 state of steam. This steam then flow through 

 piping to the engineroom. 



The engineroom equipment consists of pro- 

 pulsion turbines, turbogenerators, condensers, 

 and associated auxiliaries. 



PROBLEMS OF NUCLEAR POWER 



Although many developmental and engineer- 

 ing problems associated with nuclear power 

 have been solved to some extent, some problems 

 remain. A few problems that are of particular 



importance in connection with the shipboard 

 nuclear power plant are noted here briefly. 



The remote possibility of radiological 

 hazards exists even though the radiation is well 

 contained in the shipboard nuclear reactor. To 

 eliminate or minimize the radiological hazards, 

 a high degree of quality control is essential in 

 the design, construction, and operation of nuclear 

 power plants. The high pressures and temper- 

 atures used in nuclear reactors, together with 

 the prolonged periods of continuous operation, 

 pose materials problems. For shipboard use, 

 the great weight of the materials required for 

 shielding presents still other problems. 



Although many of these problems may be 

 solved by further technological developments, 

 the problems involved in the selection and 

 training of personnel for nuclear ships appear 

 to be continuing ones. The safe and efficient 

 operation of a shipboard nuclear plant requires 

 highly skilled, responsible personnel who have 

 been thoroughly trained in both the academic and 

 the practical aspects of nuclear propulsion. The 

 selection and training of such personnel is in- 

 evitably costly in terms of time and money. 



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