Thermal Hydraulics in Water-Cooled Nuclear Reactors

The technology created after the first self-sustainable nuclear chain reaction taking place in Chicago, USA, at the Chicago Pile-1, in 1942, under the leadership of Enrico Fermi (also called “architect of nuclear age”) constitutes the general framework for the nuclear reactor thermal-hydraulics and the present Book. This is the initiation of the Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) technology. Related cornerstone events or achievements can be summarized as follows: - Production of electricity by the heat released through undergoing nuclear fission of uranium dioxide - Use of water as coolant (and also as moderator in the majority of designs) for the regionwhere the chain reaction is sustained, i.e., the core of the reactor - Construction of large (high power) NPP units - Safety and design needs for NPP as well as the advent of computational science