Nuclear power plant

A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors generating nuclear power.

Related Topics:
Thermal - Power station - Nuclear reactor - Nuclear power

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Nuclear power plants are base load stations, which work best when the power output is constant (although boiling water reactors can come down to half power at night). Their units range in power from about 40 MWe to almost 2000 MWe, typical of new units under construction in 2005 being in the range 600-1200 MWe.

Related Topics:
Base load - Boiling water reactor - MWe - 2005

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As of 2005 there are 441 nuclear power reactors in operation around the world http://www.iaea.org/cgi-bin/db.page.pl/pris.oprconst.htm, which together produce about one-sixth of the world's electric power.

Related Topics:
As of 2005 - Electric power

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