Reactor pressure vessel
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A reactor pressure vessel (RPV) in a nuclear power plant is the pressure vessel containing the nuclear reactor coolant, core shroud, and the reactor core.
The reactor vessel used in the first US commercial nuclear power plant, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station. Photo from 1956.
A reactor vessel body and vessel head being shipped to Dresden Generating Station
A reactor vessel head for a pressurized water reactor
Nuclear power plant
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A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces electricity. As of September 2023, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported there were 410 nuclear power reactors in operation in 32 countries around the world, and 57 nuclear power reactors under construction.
Angra Nuclear Power Plant in Brazil
Some nuclear reactors make use of cooling towers to condense the steam exiting the turbines. All steam released is never in contact with radioactivity.
Bruce Nuclear Generating Station (Canada), one of the largest operational nuclear power facility in the world.
Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant in Eurajoki, Finland. The site houses of one of the most powerful reactors known as EPR.