Pressurized Water Reactor

The design of the pressurized water reactors, which also are the WWER reactors, is with two circuits. The coolant (water) from the primary circuit doesn’t drive the turbine but heats up the water from the secondary circuit. The produced steam in the secondary circuit drives the turbine. The fuel used is Uranium dioxide.

The fission in the uranium fuel releases heat, which is absorbed by the cooling water during its movement upstream through the core. Due to the high pressure in the primary circuit the water doesn’t boil. It circulates between the reactor core and the steam generator, driven by main circulation pumps. In the steam generators the primary coolant heats the water from the secondary circuit and it starts to boil due to the lower pressure on the secondary side. The produced steam is then directed to the turbine, which drives the generator for electricity production. After the turbine, the steam cools down and condenses into water in a condenser. From the condenser the water is pumped back to the steam generators.