Engineering Commons^™

Nuclear Enlightenment, Daniel J. Boyle

Daniel J Boyle

This article is intended for nations considering launching large nuclear programs, like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as they evaluate the merits of designs to meet specific national requirements. Globally there are 433 nuclear power plants in operation in 30 countries, generating over 13% of the world’s electricity. Of these, all but 17 are water-cooled. Of the 17 that are not water-cooled reactors, one is cooled with liquid sodium and 16 are cooled with carbon dioxide. This article traces the historic roots of why the industry coalesced around water-cooled reactors, the consequent design problems, and describes an alternative design based …