Light Water Reactors for the Next Century

C ompanies in the ABB group have supplied 29light water reactors (LWRs) in operation world-wide; a further six are under construction in the Republic of Korea. ABB continues to develop both pressurised water reactor (PWR) and boiling water reactor (BWR) technologies. This paper describes the structure of this development and draws conclusions with respect to technology, economy and safety. Table 1 identifies the 29 operating ABB LWRs as well as those under construction. The average capacity factor for the PWRs was 79.4 % in 1996, and for the BWRs it was 82.4%. Both these results are above the average values for PWRs (76.1%) and BWRs (75.3%) worldwide given by Nucleonics Week