Exergy analysis of a PWR core heat transfer

The exergetic analysis, a methodology of thermodynamics that quantifies of energy losses associated with irreversibility, allows to optimize the efficiencies of the various stages of a transformation process and thus its overall efficiency. In this contribution, a novel approach to the exergetic analysis is applied to the energy transformations taking place within the core of a nuclear reactor. To perform such analysis, reference was made to a pressurized light-water reactor (PWR), modeling the heat exchanges between the fuel assemblies and the coolant fluid in the core through the balance of incoming and outgoing mass and energy flows, incoming and outgoing the reactor. The results of the analysis are validated through a comparison with the actual reactor operating parameters. The main goals of the work –part of a wider ongoing research effort- are to develop the thermo-economic analysis of a PWR nuclear power plant (NPP) to assess the actual cost of the products obtainable downstream of the NPP (electric energy and thermal energy for industrial and civil users, very different products in terms of exergy contents), and to compare with the costs of similar products obtained from conventional thermal power plants.