A generation
III nuclear reactor is a development of any of the generation II
nuclear reactor designs incorporating evolutionary improvements in design
developed during the lifetime of the generation II reactor designs. These
include improved fuel technology, superior thermal efficiency, passive safety
systems and standardized design for reduced maintenance and capital costs.
Improvements
in reactor technology result in a longer operational life (60 years of
operation, extendable to 120+ years of operation prior to complete overhaul and
reactor pressure vessel replacement) compared with currently used generation II
reactors (designed for 40 years of operation, extendable to 80+ years of
operation prior to complete overhaul and RPV replacement). Furthermore, core
damage frequencies for these reactors are lower than for Generation II reactors
— 60 core damage events per 1000 million reactor–year for the EPR; 3 core
damage events per 1000 million reactor–year for the ESBWR significantly lower
than the 10,000 core damage events per 1000 million reactor–year for BWR/4
generation II reactors.
The first generation III reactors were
built in Japan, while several others have been approved for construction in
Europe. A Westinghouse AP1000 reactor is scheduled to become operational in
Sanmen, China in 2013.
● Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) — A GE design
that first went online in Japan in 1996.
● Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor (APWR) — developed
by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
● Enhanced CANDU 6 (EC6) — developed by Atomic Energy of
Canada Limited.
● VVER-1000/392 (PWR) — in various modifications into
AES-91 and AES-92
● AP600 — A Westinghouse Electric Company design that
received final design approval from the NRC in 1998; the EIA states that
"Westinghouse has deemphasized the AP600 in favor of the larger, though
potentially even less expensive (on a cost per kilowatt or capacity basis)
AP1000 design."
● System 80+ — a Combustion Engineering (now
incorporated into Westinghouse) design, which "provides a basis for the
APR1400 (Generation III+) design that has been developed in Korea for future
deployment and possible export."
Generation
III+ designs offer significant improvements in safety and economics over
Generation III advanced reactor designs certified by the NRC in the 1990s.
● Advanced CANDU Reactor (ACR-1000)
● AP1000 — based on the AP600 with increased power output
● European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) — an evolutionary
descendant of the Framatome N4 and Siemens Power Generation Division KONVOI
reactors.
● Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) —
based on the ABWR
● APR-1400 — an advanced PWR design evolved from the
U.S. System 80+, which is the basis for the Korean Next Generation Reactor or
KNGR
● VVER-1200/392M (PWR) — in design of AES-2006 with
mainly passive safety features
● VVER-1200/491 (PWR) — in design of AES-2006 with
mainly active safety features, international sold as MIR.1200
● EU-ABWR — based on the ABWR with increased powert
output and compliance with EU safety standard.
● Advanced PWR (APWR) — 4th Generation of PWR from
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
● B&W mPower — an Advanced Light Water Reactor in
development by Babcock and Wilcox and Bechtel