Generation III reactor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A generation III reactor is a development of any of the generation II nuclear reactor designs incorporating evolutionary improvements in design which have been developed during the lifetime of the generation II reactor designs, such as improved fuel technology, passive safety systems and standardised design.

The reactors are used in nuclear power plants to produce nuclear power from nuclear fuel.

The first generation III reactors went online in Japan in 1996.

Prototypical generation III designs include the EPR, based on the PWR, and the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor or ABWR, based on the BWR.

More advanced designs that are part revolutionary but fall short of the generation IV reactor prototypes by being at least part evolutionary are termed generation III+ reactors. Prototypical of these is the Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR), also based on the BWR.

[edit] See also

• Generation II reactor.
• Generation IV reactor.
• List of reactor types.

[edit] External links

• Nuclear Reactors Knowledge Base der IAEA
• Advanced reactors paper at the Uranium Information Centre.