Thermal hydraulic aspects for design and safety of nuclear power plants

For long term demands, the nuclear power plants supply power which is environmentally clean and economically competitive with other sources. A significant part of the cost of nuclear power consists of the cost of additional design requirements and the cost of equipment installed to ensure a very reliable and safe nuclear reactor. This paper explains some of the thermal hydraulic aspects of the important safety issues in the nuclear power plants. The current and the future design of the Indian reactors together with the safety considerations involved is briefly described. Some of the thermal hydraulic studies currently being done in India are explained. Problems in heat transfer and fluid flow in which other research workers may be interested are discussed. Lastly the paper describes briefly the current trends world wide in the design of nuclear reactors for improving safety further. (author). 24 refs., 22 figs., 5 tabs