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2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 8–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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Illinois legislature lifts ban on nuclear energy, funds clean energy
The Illinois General Assembly passed a clean energy bill on October 30 that would, in part, lift a 30-year moratorium on new nuclear energy in the state and create incentives for more energy storage.
Claus Goetzmann, Dietmar Bittermann, Andreas Göbel
Nuclear Technology | Volume 79 | Number 2 | November 1987 | Pages 144-157
Technical Paper | Nuclear Power Plants for Generation of Heat / Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT87-A34032
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Kraftwerk Union AG has almost completed the development of a dedicated 200-MW(thermal) nuclear district heating plant to provide environmentally clean energy at a predictably low cost. The concept can easily be adapted to meet power requirements within the 100- to 500-MW(thermal) range. This technology is the product of the experience gained with large pressurized water reactor and boiling water reactor power plants, with respect to both plant and fuel performance. The major development task is that of achieving sufficiently low capital cost by tailoring components and systems designed for large plants to the specific requirements of district heating. These requirements are small absolute power, low temperatures and pressures, and modest load following, all of which result in the characteristics that are summarized. A fully integrated primary system with natural circulation permits a very compact reactor building containing all safety-related systems and components. Plant safety is essentially guaranteed by inherent features. The reactor containment is tightly fitted around the reactor pressure vessel in such a way that, in the event of any postulated coolant leak, the core cannot become uncovered, even temporarily. Shutdown is assured by gravity drop of the control rods mounted above the core. Decay heat is removed from the core by means of natural circulation via dedicated intermediate circuits of external aircoolers. The design work for systems, components, and structures has almost been completed. Detailed accident analyses have demonstrated that the plant’s safety characteristics are excellent.