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Is it true that excess heat radiating from the top of a nuclear reactor just is released into the air?
Wiki User
∙ 10y ago
No, it is not true.
Wiki User
∙ 10y ago
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A worker at a nuclear power plant has noticed that his dosimeter alarm has been activated. What might this indicate?
Answer this question… Radiation is being released from the reactor.
Where the energy in a nuclear reactor comes from?
Excess binding energy of the uranium nucleus.
What is meant by chain reaction in nuclear reactor?
Basically a chain reaction (nuclear or chemical) is a self sustaining auto-catalytic reaction.In a nuclear reactor it is a neutron chain reaction, where each neutron released in every fission event can trigger another fission event. In a nuclear reactor the excess neutrons must be disposed of, which is the purpose of the control rods so that the reaction can be kept at some desired constant rate.
Why do nuclear power stations need to be cooled down?
Because, if they aren't, the excess heat will damage the reactor.
What happens to the excess thermal energy that is produced by a nuclear reactor?
The excess thermal energy is used to heat a coolant. You know those tall cooling towers that are the hallmark of a nuclear reactor? The final cooling is often done by spraying the hot water onto the concrete tower.
Why excess reactivity is built in nuclear reactor?
Because some of the fission products are neutron poisonsthat as they build up reduce the reactivity. Without the excess reactivity available to overcome this the reactor would shut itself down until the neutron poisons decayed away. This effect was observed in the first production reactor at Hanford (B reactor) when it was first started.
What is in a nuclear reactor in a control rod?
Control rods absorb excess neutrons. By withdrawing them the power level of the reactor goes up. By inserting them the power level of the reactor goes down. They act similar to the throttle control on airplane engines.
What is the control rod in a nuclear reactor?
Control rods absorb excess neutrons. By withdrawing them the power level of the reactor goes up. By inserting them the power level of the reactor goes down. They act similar to the throttle control on airplane engines.
How much power is needed to start the reactor and to keep it working?
A nuclear reactor needs negligible power to startup and once running supplies all the power it needs to keep running plus an excess for electric generation.
How does water cool down nuclear atoms from exploding?
Water is used in nuclear REACTORS both as the heat energy carrier and as a coolant to prevent overheating. Proper cooling is required or the reactor will overheat, causing a meltdown. This is not the same as a nuclear explosion since all that will happen is the extreme heat will melt or destroy the reactor or its containment, but due to the design of reactors it is impossible to have a nuclear explosion similar to nuclear weaponry in a reactor. A notable reactor meltdown was Chernobyl where the nuclear reaction was allowed to generate too much excess heat and the heat caused melting of reactor components and eventually a steam explosion (water vapour explosion) due to overheating. The main concern for a reactor meltdown is not the immediate destruction of everything in a certain radius but the spraying of highly radioactive materials found only in a reactor over a large radius since this radioactive waste cannot be cleaned effectively and will render the surroundings uninhabitable for decades.
The function of control rods in a nuclear reactor is to speed up the nuclear reactions?
Control rod act as brakes to reduce the reaction rate. However as nuclear reactors have so much excess reactivity, its like a car rolling downhill: remove the control rods a bit (release the brakes some) and the reaction rate increases.
When a nuclear fission reaction occurs an enormous amount of energy is released This energy comes from?
The release of excess binding energy.
