ARE YOU SUFFERING FROM EXTORTIONATE CENTRAL HEATING BILLS? DO YOU FIND YOURSELF SHIVERING OVER A LUKEWARM RADIATOR? NEED A COST-EFFECTIVE SOLUTION?
Why not install a 600MW generator in your living room? Its vibrations will provide an indefinite source of thermal energy- 24 hours, 7 days a week! There’s no need to worry about cost- supplying approximately 1.75% of the UK’s total electrical demand, you’ll be rolling in cash! (Ear defenders must be worn within a hundred meter’s radius- terms and conditions apply.)
On the 10th of august 2017 Rowan Gray visited Sizewell B; Britain’s first and only pressurised water reactor. The titanic super-reinforced concrete dome could be seen 27 kilometres away from Southwold pier, towering over the sea front. “My family and I were greeted by three enthusiastic tour guides – each had something to add to a safety briefing - before they clothed us in high vis, equipped us with ear defenders, and split us into three groups to explore the site.
The highlight of the tour was placing my hand against the turbine casing, and leaning my weight onto it. It felt like if I pushed too hard, the case would break, and I’d be at the mercy of a fan blade spinning at 3000rpm. Though I knew the casing was probably a few inches thick- and that there was most likely a second or third inner case - it somehow didn’t feel like enough.
Maybe this was due to the fun fact the guide told us- that a single drop of water could completely destroy the entire 3 million pound mechanism. The fans are stabilized just so, that the weight of a single drop could ruin the generator. Potentially explosively - I thought, but the engineers had probably already considered that, and put in place more than I could count. fail-safe's
From what I learned- the mechanical masterpiece uses three “Chain links” of water circuits to transform heat energy into electrical power. Did you know you can raise the boiling point of water by applying 15.5 MPa of pressure? –well, Sizewell’s core circuit flows at around 450 degrees Celsius because of this! This heats the transfer link- a second closed water circuit. The water inside these pipes absorb the heat energy- vaporize into steam, and this drives the turbines. The third circuit, the cooling circuit, then takes water from the North Sea and uses it to condense the steam in the transfer circuit back into water (see diagram).
In nuclear energy- Safety comes first- meaning that at Sizewell- you don’t just have a reactor, a turbine and a generator. Oh no- you have these, plus four water wheels, four tower stocks of liquid nitrogen, four 16 cylinder diesel engines each with four giant cooling fans, and 32 ventilation shafts, 8 for each engine. Engines need fuel, so four vats of diesel are required. “Why would a nuclear reactor even need train engines?” – I hear you ask. The engine houses can produce electricity. This is so that if the national grid was disabled, and the reactor required an emergency shutdown, there would be enough electrical energy to perform a safe deactivation.
All of these facilities are safety features. This means, that if nothing goes wrong; they will never have to be used. “The assumption is” our enthusiastic EDF tour guide informed me “Ones out for maintenance, ones broken, and then you’ve still got one spare”. This doesn’t even consider the security station, the mini fire department, the local health center, the engineering warehouses, chemical labs, water purifiers, low to high nuclear waste management, transformers- the list goes on. In fact, the only reason Sizewell B was economically viable is due to 8% discount as provided by the 2002 Cabinet office .
On the pro-nuclear hand, Britain has never had a major nuclear incident due to its excessive safety precautions. The industry has allowed Britain to clear the air from harmful pollutants, and- of course- provide cheaper energy. After all- Sizewell B has not one, but two 600MW turbines- providing the UK with 3.5% of its energy needs- from one station.