One unit | about 1,100 MWe | natural draft cooling tower

Plant site

The whole plant at once: the nuclear island, the turbine building, the switchyard and the cooling tower, with the support buildings, tanks, roads and the river intake around them. Turn on X-ray to see inside the containment and turbine building. Each building also has its own tab with more detail.

How it is arranged

Power block: the shield building and auxiliary building (the nuclear island) sit on one basemat. The turbine building is next to the auxiliary building with its shaft pointing at the containment. The annex building runs along one long side of the turbine building and around its generator end, where the 6.9 kV bus ducts come in.

Heat sink: one natural draft cooling tower about 600 ft tall. Three circulating water pumps send about 600,000 gpm through the condenser in buried pipe. River water makes up for evaporation; blowdown goes back to the river.

Grid: the 500 kV breaker-and-a-half switchyard east of the turbine building, three 500 kV lines and a separate 230 kV reserve line on lattice towers.

Support: radwaste and diesel generator buildings, a two-cell service water cooling tower next to the turbine building, condensate, demineralized and fire water tanks, the passive containment cooling ancillary water tank, a water treatment building, the generator gas storage pad, a meteorological tower, administration, training, warehouses and parking. The fence around the power block is shown as an ordinary fence; plant security is not modeled.

Arrangement and sizes are model values for a generic plant; counts and design data are from the public NRC description of this type of plant.

Walk through it

The guided tour in the trainer stops at each of these, highlights the equipment and explains it.

1. The shield building, with the steel containment and the reactor inside. With the auxiliary building it forms the nuclear island.
2. The turbine building. Its shaft points at the containment, so turbine missiles would fly to the sides.
3. The natural draft cooling tower, about 600 ft tall, cools the circulating water. The plume is water vapor.
4. Three circulating water pumps send about 600,000 gpm back to the condenser in buried pipe.
5. The river intake supplies makeup water for what the tower evaporates.
6. The main step-up transformers raise generator voltage to 500 kV.
7. The 500 kV switchyard connects the unit to three transmission lines.
8. The annex building takes the 6.9 kV bus ducts from the auxiliary transformers.
9. Tanks: condensate, demineralized water, fire water, and the ancillary water for passive containment cooling after day three.
10. Two standby diesel generators, not needed by the passive safety systems.
11. The radwaste building processes and stores low-level radioactive waste.
12. The fence around the power block. Plant security is not modeled on this site.

Equipment in this building

Each item links to its entry in the equipment reference. In the trainer, click any of them to see what it does, its ratings and its safety note.

Buchholz / gas accumulation relay × 3Conservator tank × 3Cooling fan × 64Dehydrating breather × 3Excitation transformer × 1Generator step-up (GSU) transformer × 3Load tap changer (LTC) compartment × 4Main turbine-generator × 1Nameplate × 7Nitrogen gas cabinet × 4Oil valves × 7Pressure relief device × 7Radiator bank × 14Reserve auxiliary transformer × 2Sudden-pressure relay (63SP) × 4Temperature & level gauges × 7Transformer control cabinet × 7Unit auxiliary transformer × 2Dead-tank circuit breaker × 9Disconnect switch × 16Generator circuit breaker × 1Grounding switch × 20Operating mechanism cabinet × 9SF6 gas density monitor × 27Switch blade × 48Switch operator × 32Bushing current transformer × 54Coupling capacitor voltage transformer (CCVT) × 12Current transformer (CT), freestanding × 3Line trap (wave trap) × 4Potential transformer (PT / VT) × 3Surge arrester × 42Surge counter / leakage monitor × 15Bus support fitting × 84Bushing (breaker / recloser) × 54Expansion fitting × 6Flexible jumper (strain bus) × 192Grading (corona) ring × 15Isolated phase bus (IPB) × 3Non-segregated phase bus duct × 1Rigid bus × 36Shield (overhead ground) wire × 9Station post insulator × 276Strain (dead-end) insulator × 36Suspension insulator × 39Tee connector × 57Terminal connector × 294Transformer bushing × 37Transmission line conductor × 8Access platform × 2Building steel frame × 1Bus support structure × 132Concrete foundation × 444Dead-end structure × 12Equipment support stand × 186Firewall × 2Handrail × 4Lightning mast × 25Lightning protection × 2Oil containment pit × 5Operating floor and mezzanines × 1Stair tower × 4Transmission tower × 13Turbine-generator foundation × 1Exothermic weld × 1Gate bonding jumper × 2Ground connector × 1Ground grid × 1Ground riser / pigtail × 1Ground rod × 1Neutral grounding conductor × 3Operator ground mat × 16Cable tray × 11Cable tray barrier × 2Cable tray fitting × 24Cable tray support × 206Cable trench × 1Cables in tray × 10Conduit × 61Conduit body (LB) × 7Conduit coupling / adapter × 1Conduit elbow (sweep) × 1Conduit support × 223Control cable × 1Drop-out and conduit-to-tray fittings × 52Junction / terminal box × 25Liquidtight flexible metal conduit × 59Penetration seal (fire barrier) × 2Tray grounding conductor × 4Trench cover × 1AC / DC distribution panels × 1Administration and training buildings × 2Annex building × 2Auxiliary building × 1Battery charger × 1Control house × 1Diesel generator building × 1Eyewash station × 1Fire pump house × 1HVAC unit × 1Protective relay panel × 24Radwaste building × 1SCADA RTU / automation controller × 1Station battery × 1Truck bay door × 1Turbine building × 1Warehouse × 2Water treatment building × 1Access road × 9Area light × 4Crushed rock surface × 1Gate × 1Parking lot × 2Plant fence × 1Switchyard fence × 1Warning sign × 33Component supports × 4Control rod drive mechanisms × 1Main feedwater line (inside containment) × 2Main steam line (inside containment) × 2Moisture separators and dryers × 2Pressurizer × 1Pressurizer heaters × 3Reactor coolant piping × 8Reactor coolant pump (canned motor) × 4Reactor core × 1Reactor vessel × 1Reactor vessel closure head × 1Steam generator × 2Tube bundle × 2Tubesheet and divider plate × 2Accumulator × 2Air baffle × 1Air outlet (diffuser) × 1Automatic depressurization valve × 16Containment recirculation screen × 1Core makeup tank × 2IRWST screen × 1In-containment refueling water storage tank (IRWST) × 1Passive containment cooling water tank × 1Passive residual heat removal (RHR) heat exchanger × 1Sparger × 2Water distribution bucket and weirs × 1pH adjustment basket × 1Containment floors × 2Containment internal structures × 4Electrical penetration assembly × 6Equipment hatch × 2Fuel transfer tube × 2Personnel airlock × 2Refueling cavity × 1Refueling machine × 1Shield building × 1Steel containment vessel × 1Water (shown in cutaway) × 3Air-operated valve × 6Check valve × 6Motor-operated valve × 8Passive safety piping × 41Pipe support × 125Pressurizer safety valves × 1Squib valve × 6Condensate pot × 1Differential pressure transmitter × 3Flow nozzle × 2Instrument stand × 7Instrument tubing × 11Meteorological tower × 1Pressure transmitter × 4Root valve × 10Blowdown discharge structure × 1Circulating water pump structure × 1Diesel fuel oil tank × 1Generator gas storage × 1Natural draft cooling tower × 1Outdoor water storage tank × 5Polar crane × 1River intake structure × 1Service water cooling tower × 1Booster and main feedwater pump set × 3Circulating water piping × 6Collector and brush gear × 1Condensate and feedwater piping × 43Condensate polisher × 1Condensate pump × 3Condenser air removal piping × 14Condenser vacuum pump × 4Deaerator × 1Feedwater heater × 8Front standard and bearing pedestals × 1Generator gas and cooling skids × 3High-pressure turbine × 1Low-pressure turbine × 3Main condenser × 1Main steam and reheat piping × 40Main stop and control valves × 4Moisture separator reheater × 2Reheat stop and intercept valves × 6Static excitation system × 3Turbine building crane × 1Turbine bypass valve × 6Turbine control fluid unit × 1Turbine lube oil system × 3

Part of a generic plant built for training. It is not any real plant or design, and sizes and ratings are model values, not design values.