A Nuclear Power Plant is also a type of power station in which we use the heat produced by a nuclear reactor and convert this into electricity with the help of steam turbines and generators. There are hundreds of nuclear power plants present in almost every country throughout the globe. The source of power production from nuclear plant is heat produced by nuclear fission reaction in the nuclear reactor. Due to this heat, water vapour is produced which falls on steam turbine in a pressurized form androtate the turbine which produces energy in the form of electricity. The remaining vapour is condensed and stored in cooling towers. This water is flow back to nuclear reactor and the whole process repeats once again. The process of this power plant is based on the concept of Rankine cycle. The main advantages of nuclear power plant are that the emissions of gases is almost nil in this type of power generation, A large amount of energy can be generated from a small amount of nuclear matter, the efficiency of nuclear reactors is more than that of other thermal power plants and the operations are so easy in this power generation. But there are some disadvantages of nuclear power plant as the building and maintenance cost is so high, waste products are need to be stored carefully as it takes very much time to degrade and these waste products are so dangerous, and if any mishap occur in nuclear power plant, it will lead to a disaster of extent level. A nuclear reactor is a device which is used to control the nuclear chain reaction. The use of nuclear power is still in debates but we cannot ignore the benefits of using nuclear power. The nuclear power plant has various parts. Some of them are Nuclear reactors, steam turbine, generator, cooling system, safety valves, feedwater pumps and emergency power supply. The nuclear reactor is used to evaporate water and convert it into vapours. The generators are used to convert the kinetic energy of turbine into useful electrical energy. Cooling system is also very useful as it removes heat from reactor. Cooling system is essential because it avoids the extra heating and breakdown of power plant.Safety valves are present in nuclear power plant to avoid bursting of pipes. Feed water pumps are used to control the level of water in the steam generator and nuclear reactor. Emergency power supply is useful in case of any emergency or sudden breakdown. Nuclear power plant plays an important role in power sector today. So here we have the list of top 10 biggest nuclear power plants in the world.
10. Fukushima Daiichi, Okuma, Japan
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is on the tenth position in the list of top ten biggest nuclear power plants in the world. It is located in Okuma state of Japan near the capital city Tokyo. This plant holds the production capacity of 4,696 MWh. This plant was badly destroyed at the time of tsunami in Japan. All the six nuclear reactors were damaged which lead to shut down all its operations. The reactors present in this power plant are boiling water reactors. This power plant is running with the help of TEPCO.
9.Oi, Fukui, Japan
The Oi nuclear power plant is present on ninth position in the list of top ten biggest nuclear power plants in the world. It is located in Fukai, Japan. This power plant is running under the flagship of Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO). This plant has four nuclear reactors that are bigger than that of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Each of its reactorgenerates about 1000 megawatts power per hour. The overall production capacity of this power plant is 4710 MWh. This plant is also known for accidents occur over here for last two decades where several of its employees lost their lives.
8. Bruce Nuclear Power Plant, Inverhuron & Tiverton, Canada
Bruce Nuclear Power Plant is on the eighth place in the list of top ten biggest nuclear power plant in the world. This power plant holds the production capacity of 5090 MWh. This power plant is spread over 2000 acres of area in Ontario. Out of eight reactors present here, only six are working. The production capacity of this power plant will increase by 1500 megawatts in the next year. This power plant is known for its safety systems.
7. Cattenom Nuclear Power Plant, Cattenom, France
Cattenom Nuclear Power Plant is on the seventh position in the list of top ten biggest nuclear power plants in the world. The production capacity of this plant is about 5,400 MWh. This power plant is located on the border of France and Germany. This Power Plant is running under the flagship of Electricite de France (EDF). EDF is the biggest power generator of Europe. Nuclear energy is highly consumed in France so there is an extra load on this power plant.Its security was improved after nuclear disaster in Japan.
6. Paluel Nuclear Power Plant, Normandy, France
Paluel Nuclear Power Plant is located at the north corner of France at the shore of Normandy. Paluel Nuclear Power Plant consists of four nuclear reactors and overall power production is 1300 megawatts of power per hour. This power plant is on the sixth position in this list.Water taken from English Channel is used as a coolant in this power plant. It is the only power plant in France that gets coolant from sea. The need of fresh water is reduced by use of evaporators on each level of cooling towers. The overall production capacity of this plant is 5,528 MWh.
5. Gravelines Nuclear Power Plant, Gravelines, France
Gravelines Nuclear Power Plant is situated in Nord, France. Like Paluel Nuclear Power Plant, Gravelines Nuclear Power Plant also take water from English Channel that is used as a coolant in the nuclear plant. This nuclear power plant is placed on fifth position in this list. The total Power generated by the plant till date is about 1000 billions kilowatt hour of energy. The waste warm exhaust water is used by the fish farmers. The production capacity of this plant is 5,706 MWh.
4. Zaporizhzhia Atomic Energy Plant, Enerhodar, Ukraine
Zaporizhzhia power plant is situated near the Dnieper river in the central Ukraine. It is production wise Europe’s largest nuclear plant. There are six nuclear generators present in this powerplant and all are working. Zaporizhzhia atomic power plant is on the fourth position in this list. Almost half of the energy produced in the country is generated in this power plant. This power plant holds the production capacity of 6,000 MWh. Ukraine also experienced a nuclear plant explosion 25 years back.
3. Yonggwang Atomic Energy Plant, Yonggwang, South Korea
The Yonggwang nuclear power plant is situated in southwestern Jeollanam. The overall production capacity of this nuclear power plant is 6,137 MWh. There are six nuclear reactors present in this power plant and the capacity of each reactor is 900 megawatts of power. This power plant was closed in 1978 due to leakage of radioactive substances to the neighbour areas. South korea is on the top of the list of nuclear power producer countries.
2. Uljin Nuclear Power Plant, South Korea
This power plant is on the second position in the list of biggest nuclear power plants in the world. It is situated in the Gyeongsangbuk of South Korea. There are six nuclear reactors present in this power plant with a great security system. The total production capacity of this power plant is about 6,157 MWh.
1.Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, Niigata prefecture, Japan
Kashiwazaki Nuclear power plant is on the top of the list. This power plant is located in city of Kashiwazaki and Kariwa. This is the biggest nuclear generating power plant of the world. There are seven nuclear reactors present in this power plant. This plant is running under the flagship of TEPCO. This power plant was established in 1985 but all of its nuclear reactors started in 1997. The overall production capacity of this power plant is 8,212 MWh.