Scribd
Upload
32 views1 page

Generation II Reactor

Generation II reactors refer to commercial nuclear reactors built until the 1990s, including pressurized water reactors, CANDU reactors, boiling water reactors, advanced gas-cooled reactors, RBMK reactors, and VVER reactors. They represent older versions of these designs compared to Generation I prototype reactors. Some Generation II designs built after 2000 are referred to as Generation II+ if they include improved safety systems and a 60-year design life. While originally intended for 30-40 years of operation, many Generation II reactors have been or are being life-extended to 50-60 years, or potentially 80 years. Chernobyl's reactor that exploded and Fukushima Daiichi's destroyed reactors were Generation II reactors.

Uploaded by

Dave Soriano
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
32 views1 page

Generation II Reactor

Generation II reactors refer to commercial nuclear reactors built until the 1990s, including pressurized water reactors, CANDU reactors, boiling water reactors, advanced gas-cooled reactors, RBMK reactors, and VVER reactors. They represent older versions of these designs compared to Generation I prototype reactors. Some Generation II designs built after 2000 are referred to as Generation II+ if they include improved safety systems and a 60-year design life. While originally intended for 30-40 years of operation, many Generation II reactors have been or are being life-extended to 50-60 years, or potentially 80 years. Chernobyl's reactor that exploded and Fukushima Daiichi's destroyed reactors were Generation II reactors.

Uploaded by

Dave Soriano
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

generation II reactor is a design classification for a nuclear reactor, and refers to the class of

commercial reactors built until the end of the 1990s.[1] Prototypical and older version
of PWR, CANDU, BWR, AGR, RBMK and VVER are among them.[1]
These are contrasted to generation I reactors, which refer to the early prototype of power reactors,
such as Shippingport, Magnox/UNGG, AMB, Fermi 1, and Dresden 1.[1] The last commercial Gen I
power reactor was located at the Wylfa Nuclear Power Station[2] and ceased operation at the end of
2015. The nomenclature for reactor designs, describing four 'generations', was proposed by the US
Department of Energy when it introduced the concept of generation IV reactors.
The designation generation II+ reactor is sometimes used for modernized generation II designs built
post-2000, such as the Chinese CPR-1000, in competition with more expensive generation III
reactor designs. Typically, the modernization includes improved safety systems and a 60-year
design life.[citation needed]
Generation II reactor designs generally had an original design life of 30 or 40 years[3]. This date was
set as the period over which loans taken out for the plant would be paid off. However, many
generation II reactors are being life-extended to 50 or 60 years, and a second life-extension to 80
years may also be economic in many cases.[4] By 2013 about 75% of still operating U.S. reactors had
been granted life extension licenses to 60 years.[5]
Chernobyl's No.4 reactor that exploded was a generation II reactor, specifically RBMK-1000.
Fukushima Daiichi's three destroyed reactors were generation II reactors; specifically Mark I Boiling
water reactors (BWR) designed by General Electric. In 2016, unit 2 at the Watts Bar Nuclear
Generating Station came online and is likely to be the last generation II reactor to become
operational in the United States.

You might also like