State any four factors for selecting location of nuclear power plant.
Following points should be considered while selecting Power Plant location:-
1) Availability of water: Water is as good as a secondary fuel, so ample amount of water should be available near Power Plant so power plant should be located near sea shore, ocean, river etc.
2) Distance from populated area: From the safety point of views, power plant should be located away from populated area.
3) Easy Access: There should be easy acces towards site of power plant for transportation of machinery,equipments, fuel and man power etc.
4) Condition of land soil:- Soil should have high bearing capacity .For better foundation of machinery, equipment and building.
5) Availability of land :- Sufficient land should be available for short storage of radioactive waste, for staff quarters and for future expansion of Power Plant.
6) Cost of land: Cost of land should be less, to reduce capital cost of power plant.
7) Plant should be constructed on plain land.
8) Distance from load center : Power Plant should be located near load centre to reduce transmission cost & transmission Losses.
9) Distance from airport:- As height of chimney is very high, it should be located away from airport.
10) Area free from earthquake: Area should be free from earthquake and natural hazards.
i) Seismicity: If the area of a nuclear site is seismically active, it may not be used for nuclear power plant.
ii) Water Availability: The nuclear power plants would need a lot of water for power production. So this criterion must be taken into consideration.
iii) Flooding: A nuclear power plant has to be protected from the static and dynamic effects of flooding. Therefore, the site should not be in areas where the flood is susceptible to occur.
iv) Away from populated area: Although there is always tight safety but still there are chances of radioactive radiation, which affects the health of people. Therefore, it must be away from the populated areas.
v) Nearest to the load centers: Since the transportation and storage requirements are less compared to the coal fired plants. It is preferred to construct the nuclear power plant near to the load centers so that transmission of energy at minimum cost can be achieved.
vi) Disposal of waste: The waste produced by fission in nuclear power station is generally radioactive which must be disposed off properly to avoid health hazards. The waste should either be buried in a deep trench or disposed off in a sea quite away from the sea shore. Therefore, the site selected for such plant should have adequate arrangement for the disposal of radioactive waste.