How nuclear power plants generate electricity?

Figure: Nuclear power plant.

Nuclear power plants generate electricity in much the same way that other thermal power plants generate electricity. The combustion of a fuel is used to generate heat, the heat is used to create steam, and the steam is used to spin turbines, which in turn generate electricity. The difference with nuclear power plants is that instead of using the combustion of a fuel to generate heat, they use nuclear fission to generate heat. Nuclear fission in simple terms is the splitting of large atoms into smaller atoms; this process releases vast amounts of energy.  

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What types of protection are available for nuclear power plants against the effects of external hazards?

There are four main protection methods, which are as follows:

• Design of essential equipment and structures to withstand hazards;

• Physical protection of the plant against the effects of a hazard, for example, by ensuring that it is suitably housed;

• Redundancy, diversity, segregation, and separation of essential systems;

• Systems to mitigate the effects of hazards, such as fire-fighting equipment.

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What kind of hazards to nuclear power plants occur that originate outside the plants?

External hazards originate outside the site, and may affect the plant or station as a hole. The following external hazards have to be considered and, where appropriate for the particular circumstances of the site, taken into account in the plant design:

• Earthquakes.

• Extreme weather, for example, extreme air or sea temperatures, wind speed, rain or snow, lightning, tornados, or hurricanes.

• Site flooding, for example by tidal waves.

• Aircraft crashes.

• Ground settlement and subsidence.

• Hazards from off-site industrial activity.

• Dangerous substances.

• Sabotage.

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