(5 Marks) Question 2: Briefly explain the term plant availability in nuclear technology. Consider a nuclear power plant with an output rating of 1000MW_(e) . During a one- year period of operation , the plant delivers 200 .000 MWd of electric power to the utility grid. During this time the plant was down as follows: 30 days for refueling; 50 days for maintenance and repairs. Calculate the plant capacity and plant availability during the year.

Plant availability in refers to the percentage of time that a nuclear power plant is operational and capable of producing electricity. It is a measure of the plant's reliability and efficiency in delivering power to the grid.<br /><br />To calculate the plant capacity and plant availability during the year, we need to consider the total number of days in a year and the number of days the plant was down for refueling and maintenance.<br /><br />Plant capacity is the maximum power output that a achieve under ideal conditions. In this case, the plant has an output rating of 1000 MW_e.<br /><br />Plant availability is calculated by dividing the number of days the plant was operational by the total number of days in a year, and then multiplying by 100 to get the percentage.<br /><br />In this case, the plant was down for 30 days for refueling and 50 days for maintenance, totaling 80 days of downtime. The total number of days in a year is 365.<br /><br />Plant availability = (Number of operational days / Total number of days) * 100<br />= (365 - 80) / 365 * 100<br />= 285 / 365 * 100<br />= 78.08%<br /><br />Therefore, the plant capacity is 1000 MW_e, and the plant availability during the year is 78.08%.