Nuclear

Nuclear

Principle of the load bank in a nuclear power plant

The operation of a nuclear power plant requires an electrical power supply system to ensure the operation and safety of the installation. The electrical distribution system is designed to meet the needs of normal operation of the unit when it produces electricity or during a shutdown period (running auxiliaries and permanent auxiliaries) but also to ensure the supply of equipment providing the safety functions required in the event of an incident or accident on the installation (rescued auxiliaries). Diesel engine emergency generator sets are used to supply the reactor safety systems in the event of a loss of electricity supply from the national grid. Each nuclear reactor is equipped with two emergency generators. In addition, an additional generator is available for all the reactors on the same site. Each of these groups is sufficient to supply the systems necessary to ensure the safety of the reactor during shutdown.
The reliability of these generating sets is crucial. A test of the proper functioning of the generators is therefore carried out regularly. For this, nuclear power plant managers call on manufacturers capable of manufacturing load banks capable of supplying several Megawatts as well as the associated control system (measurement system, automatic cycles). These load banks are often medium voltage.