The Mitsubishi advanced pressurized water reactor (APWR) is a
generation III nuclear reactor design developed by
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the predecessor of Mitsubishi ...
(MHI) based on
pressurized water reactor
A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan and Canada). In a PWR, the primary coolant (water) i ...
technology. It features several design enhancements including a
neutron reflector, improved efficiency and improved safety systems. It has safety features advanced over the last generation, including a combination of passive and active systems. None are currently under construction.
History
The standard APWR is going through the licensing process in Japan and two (of 1538 MWe) are being constructed at the
Tsuruga plant. The next APWR+ will be of a 1700 MWe power and have full
MOX core abilities.
The US-APWR was developed by MHI to modify their APWR design to comply with US regulations.
TXU selected the US-APWR for use at multiple sites, including the
Comanche Peak Nuclear Generating Station
Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant is located in Somervell County, Texas. The nuclear power plant is located southwest of Ft. Worth and about southwest of Dallas. It relies on nearby Squaw Creek Reservoir for cooling water. The plant has abou ...
.
However, in 2013, Mitsubishi slowed U.S. certification work, and the application to build two units at Comanche was suspended.
[
]
The reactors are intended for use in
nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces ...
s to produce
nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
from
nuclear fuel
Nuclear fuel is material used in nuclear power stations to produce heat to power turbines. Heat is created when nuclear fuel undergoes nuclear fission.
Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile actinide elements that are capable of undergo ...
.
Plant parameters
The US-APWR has several design features to improve plant economics. The core is surrounded by a steel neutron reflector which increases reactivity and saves ~0.1wt% U-235 enrichment. In addition, the US-APWR uses more advanced steam generators (compared to the APWR) which creates drier steam allowing for the use of higher efficiency (and more delicate) turbines. This leads to a ~10% efficiency increase compared to the APWR.
Several safety improvements are also notable. The safety systems have enhanced redundancy, utilizing 4 trains each capable of supplying 50% of the needed high pressure makeup water instead of 2 trains capable of 100%. Also, more reliance is placed on the accumulators which have been redesigned and increased in size. The improvements in this passive system have led to the elimination of the Low Pressure Safety Injection system, an active system.
Units
Planned
In 2013, plans to build units in the U.S. were suspended:
[
* TXUs ]Comanche Peak Nuclear Generating Station
Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant is located in Somervell County, Texas. The nuclear power plant is located southwest of Ft. Worth and about southwest of Dallas. It relies on nearby Squaw Creek Reservoir for cooling water. The plant has abou ...
*North Anna Nuclear Generating Station
The North Anna Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant on a site in Louisa County, Virginia, Louisa County, Virginia, in the Mid-Atlantic states, Mid-Atlantic United States. The site is operated by Dominion Resources, Dominion Genera ...
unit 3
On 10 May 2011, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan
is a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) from June 2010 to September 2011. Kan was the first Prime Minister since the resignation of Junichiro Koizumi in 2006 to serve for m ...
announced that Japan was cancelling plans for new nuclear construction, including the 2 proposed new APWR reactors at Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant
The is located in the city of Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPC). The total site area is with 94% of it being green area that the company is working to preserve. The Tsuruga site is a dual ...
.Nuclear Regulation Authority
The is an administrative body of the Cabinet of Japan established to ensure nuclear safety in Japan as part of the Ministry of the Environment. Established on September 19, 2012, its first head was Shunichi Tanaka.
Background
The NRA was form ...
(NRA) accepted an expert report that concluded Tsuruga is on an active geological fault
In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectoni ...
.
See also
*Atmea
Atmea was a joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and EDF Group set up in 2006 to develop, market, license and sell the ATMEA1 reactor, a new generation III+, medium-power pressurized water reactor (PWR). The company was headqua ...
*Mitsubishi FBR Systems Mitsubishi FBR Systems, Inc. (MFBR) is a company formed on July 1, 2007 by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to develop Fast breeder reactor technology. The establishment of the company was based on the April 2007 decision by the Japanese government to s ...
*AP1000
The AP1000 is a nuclear power plant designed and sold by Westinghouse Electric Company. The plant is a pressurized water reactor with improved use of passive nuclear safety and many design features intended to lower its capital cost and impr ...
, the Westinghouse nuclear power plant
References
{{Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Nuclear power reactor types
Nuclear technology in Japan
APWR