Memorandum

To:

Professor Chad Eller
From:
Adam Sedgwick
Date:
January 31, 2016
Subject:
Technical Definition and Description Specifications

Here are the document specifications that you requested for project 2. I chose to define Pressurized
Water Rectors (PWR) and describe how they work. In this memo I discuss the audience, purpose,
placement, the way I extended the definition, and the organizational pattern for the description.

Audience
The audience of my technical definition and description will be young mechanical engineering students
interested in learning more about nuclear power processes that are prevalent in the United Stated. They
would have little to no knowledge on Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR).

Purpose
The purpose of this extended definition and description is to inform the audience on what a Pressurized
Water Reactor is and how it operates. After reading the definition and description, engineering students
hoping to enter the nuclear energy field will have a better understanding on the current nuclear
technology primarily utilized by the United States and other countries.

Placement
The definition and description would be a part of a document given in an Engineering Thermodynamics
or Heat Transfer class. It would be an introduction to nuclear engineering processes and would prelude
a thermodynamic problem asking the students to determine the amount of power generated by a
current Pressurized Water Reactor as well as to determine the efficiency of the system.

Extending the Technical Definition
I start my definition by discussing nuclear power to give the audience a refresher or basic understanding
on what nuclear reactors do and how Pressure Water Reactors (PWR) fit into that picture. I move on to
explain what a Pressurized Water Reactor is, giving basic information on its physical components and
giving mention to its inner systems, refueling, and reasons for use. In my last section I briefly describe
their history and use within the United States. This definition gives a basic understanding on PWR.
I also include a visual to help bridge the gap of reading, seeing, and understanding. If more information
is desired, the students could see the attached sources and complete more research on the topic.

Organizational Pattern for Technical Description
I describe how a Pressurized Water Reactor works; its general process, and how it operates. This is done
in a chronological order. Starting with the reactor, I describe each process in the system. The visual will
be referenced to show the general process as a support to the description.

Works Cited

Kern, Rebecca. "NEI Nuclear Notes." : What Happens During a Refueling Outage? N.p., 08 May
2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2016. <http://neinuclearnotes.blogspot.com/2012/05/what-happensduring-refueling-outage.html >.

Nave, R. "Pressure Water Reactors." HyperPhysics. N.p., n.d. Web.
<http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nucene/reactor.html#c4>.

Nuclear Information Center. N.p., 27 Mar. 2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2016. <http://nuclear.dukeenergy.com/2012/03/27/pressurized-water-reactors-pwr-and-boiling-water-reactors-bwr/>.

"Nuclear Propulsion." Nuclear Propulsion. FAS Military Analysis Network, 29 Feb. 2000. Web. 20
Feb. 2016. <http://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/eng/reactor.html>.