Change of all nuclear power plants to pebble bed reactorsIntroductionThere is a high demand for energy, and to meet all these demands, the he environment tends to suffer from pollution. Burning coal, oil and natural gas releases harmful chemicals such as sulfur dioxide (caused by acid rain), carbon dioxide (causing the greenhouse effect increasing the Earth's average temperature) and many more. To address this problem, world leaders met in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997 to establish allowable emission limits for fossil fuels. Even though these limits have been set, the world has always demanded more and more energy. Ideally, the solution was to use other sources such as nuclear power plants and renewable resources. One of the successful technological advancements is the development of pebble bed reactors. Basic Principles of Pebble Bed Reactors To improve the safety of nuclear power plants, a small pebble bed reactor cooled by the use of helium was created. A gas turbine was attached to the reactor to produce electricity. The efficiency of this new reactor would reach 45-50% compared to the previous production of 35%, and is estimated to be around 10% more efficient than the conventional light water reactor. To create a safer nuclear power source, the modular reactor was about ten times smaller than the size of a regular nuclear reactor. Due to its small size, it made the ease of use much simpler, allowing no operators. The electrical power of 110 megawatts made the plant the safest possible. Even in the worst case, the reactor automatically shuts down whenever a meltdown is likely to occur.Concept of Pellet Bed ReactorsPellet bed reactors consist of a slightly smaller than the si... ... middle of paper... ... eat. However, the reactor still has limitations, with all the safety features added to the reactor, once it melts, the contamination of the surrounding area with harmful radioactive chemicals is significant. This concern has always been a major setback for all nuclear power plants, but pebble bed reactors are currently the safest nuclear power plant reactors ever created by scientists.Bibliographyhttp://web.mit.edu/pebble-bed /background.pdfhttp://www.ecogeek.org/component/content/article/3657-alternative-nuclear-power-pebble-bed-reactorhttps://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/ Pebble_bed_reactor.htmlhttp://www.nrc.gov/reactors/advanced/pbmr.htmlhttp://pebblebedreactor.blogspot.comhttp://bravenewclimate.com/2010/08/25/pb-ahtr/http://www. nytimes.com/2011 /03/25/business/energy-environment/25chinanuke.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0