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No. A nuclear weapon requires a critical amount of highly enriched fuel to be rapidly brought together to cause a sudden explosion. Nuclear plants use low enriched fuel which could never cause a nuclear explosion, and this fuel is dispersed through the reactor in any case so it could not suddenly come together.

Any nuclear plant explosions (like Chernobyl) are caused by the presence of high pressure steam and water circuits, not the fact of it being a nuclear plant, though certainly if there is an explosion of a pressure circuit and hence a loss of coolant, and disruption of the nuclear reactor, radioactivity may escape from the plant. This is the chief preoccupation of designers and operators, to keep the plant safe and prevent this ever happening.

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Q: Can an improperly managed nuclear plant explode like a nuclear weapon?
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Did chernobyl explode like a bomb?

It did explode, but this was due to a surge in steam pressure which blew off the top of the reactor, it was not a nuclear explosion as in a nuclear weapon.


Can a nuclear reactor be used as a nuclear weapon?

No. LLNL even tested several Uranium-Hydride bombs in the 1950s. Even though their computer models said the devices should explode, none gave a nuclear yield. One could use the waste from the reactor as a Radiological Weapon, but the reactor itself is not useful as a weapon.


Can a power plant can explode like a nuclear weapon?

No, a nuclear weapon needs a specific geometry to detonate, and it has to be held in this position by very high explosives to keep it in this shape. In a nuclear reactor, if the reactor core goes critical then the force of the expanding coolant will blow the reactor apart, preventing a nuclear blast.


What is the meaning of nuclear weapon?

The meaning of the word nuclear weapon, is a weapon that has a nuclear warhead on it.


Can a Cookie induced nuclear power plant explode like a nuclear weapon?

Yes. But it'd probably require some sort of typo while attempting to put the system in standby before going to lunch.


What is a nuclear weapon in wich enormous energy is released by nuclear fission?

This nuclear weapon is called an atomic bomb or a nuclear bomb


What is an atomic weapon?

An atomic weapon is an alternative name for a nuclear weapon, a weapon which derives its energy from the nuclear reactions of either fusion or fission.


Which one has the ability to destroy entire cities and impair electronic communications systems?

Nuclear weapon detonations


Is an bomb or a nuclear weapon more powerful?

If by "bomb" you mean a conventional explosive weapon, then the nuclear weapon is more powerful.


How does the energy released by an earthquake compare to the energy of a nuclear weapon?

* Earthquake Richter 5.0 = 32 kilotons nuclear weapon, like was used at Nagasaki * Earthquake Richter 6.0 = 1 megaton nuclear weapon * Earthquake Richter 7.0 = 32 megaton nuclear weapon * Earthquake Richter 7.1 = 50 megaton nuclear weapon, Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear weapon ever tested * Earthquake Richter 8.0 = 1 gigaton nuclear weapon, much larger than anything ever made


What is a nuclear weapon made of?

nuclear chemicals such as plutonium


How many rads does a nuclear weapon produce?

That would vary from weapon to weapon.