Controlled!
...if the reactor is working properly.
A nuclear power plant uses a slow, controlled nuclear chain reaction to heat water and generate electricity. A nuclear bomb uses a very rapid uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction in order to generate a massive explosion.
The chain reaction can be controlled, and it can be stopped. It is controlled in a nuclear power plant, and it is stopped when the plant shuts down, as it does periodically for refueling.
in a bomb it is an uncontrolled runaway reaction that completes in roughly 10 microseconds with the detonation of the core of the bomb.in a reactor it is a controlled steady reaction that continues for hours to years, until the operators shut the reactor down for maintenance.
The nuclear reaction used in the Bataan power plant is nuclear fission.
A nuclear chain reaction nuclear fission
The fission reaction is controlled through use of high neutron capture material as Boron, Gadolinium, Cadmium, ... etc.
A nuclear chain reaction nuclear fission
Nuclear energy is obtained by the fissioning of nuclei of uranium235, in a controlled chain reaction in a nuclear reactor, which produces heat that can be converted to electricity by normal power plant methods.
Heat from a controlled nuclear reaction heats water into steam. The steam turns a turbine, which is attached to a generator. The generator then makes electricity.
Nuclear fission
Some examples of nuclear energy:A fission reaction at a nuclear power plant provides enough energy to give electricity to large cities.The fusion reaction in the sun provides our planet with all of the energy it needs for living organisms to survive.An uncontrolled fission reaction provides the destructive force of a nuclear bomb.source: softschools.com
The controlled nuclear reaction generates large amounts of heat. That heat boils water, which creates steam. The steam turns turbine blades, and the turbine generates electricity.