Goood Nuclear Power Book

[ChrisC]

I borrowed a book from the library some time ago and have been meaning to suggest it since. It's called Nuclear Power in Canada and Beyond by Roger G. Steed. If you've ever wondered about how a plant works - I mean really works - this is a fabulous book. I love diagrams and cutaways and this book has tons of them detailing almost every conceivable part of a CANDU plant. Going in with only a very basic understanding, I feel like I have an excellent feel for how things work now. The processes are detailed nicely and the writing is easy going. I think a reasonably intelligent layman would have little trouble understanding how the systems work together to make useful power. Another thing I liked, and this is a personal preference, is that the book is like a collection of smaller books and papers that has been bound. Besides the workings of a plant, topics include safety, environmental concerns, and breakdowns of nuclear "incidents". The author is an industry veteran and is obviously ok with nuclear power, but the writing seemed pretty neutral and factual. I stink at reviewing books, so all I can say is that I really enjoyed it and it's definitely worth a look if you're interested in the subject.

I really, really want to tour a plant sometime.

Link to book: http://gsph.indelta.ca/index.php?ID=472&Lang=En
Link to TOC http://www.cna.ca/english/pdf/Articles/TableofContentsSteed.pdf

 

[wackyvorlon]

I know a fellow who works at Bruce. He works in instrumentation and control. I'm told they do very little work, even the smallest thing requires studies and paperwork and safety reviews. The place is also staffed by armed guards

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

I have actually stood at the calandra face of Pickering Number 1. Needless to say this was before it was fueled and powered up.

Does the book give any comparisons between CANDU and other types of reactors? At one time I was fairly up on this stuff but I don't know much about advances in the past 40 years.

 

[ChrisC]

I should have written this when I had the book in my hot little hands...
IIRC, there's direct comparisons. I definitely remember descriptions of the different plant types used currently and in the past and how they differed from one another..

Know what? It's a nice evening, the book is checked in, and I'm up for a bike ride. I'll go get it and report back. I've piqued my own interest in flipping through it again anyway.

----

OK, I've got it in front of me. Chapter 5 (pp. 5-7), "The World's Major Power Reactor Types", briefly describes how each type of reactor in use works. Chapter 21 (pp. 243-274) is called "Drawings and Descriptions of Reactors Other then CANDUs" (I love it when Engineers come up with titles ) and deals with the other types more extensively.

There's a great reprint of a Uranium Institute factsheet that details the Three Mile Island accident in a sequence of events from 04:00:36 to 15:08:00. Interesting reading.

 

[ChrisC]

??? oops.

 

[Ranb]

I have been involved in the naval nuclear program since 1984. Operations and maintenance of pressurized water reactors. There is much more emphasis on size and strength than efficiency as compared to the land based power plants. But the same (or more so) " studies and paperwork and safety reviews" applies on the Navy's ships as on the commercial power plants. Some days I just wait the entire shift for work that never happens due to some piece of paper that is slow getting approved.

Ranb