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Reactors can be fueled by uranium or many of the transuranic elements, but uranium is the only element that occurs naturally with large enough levels of its fissionable isotope uranium-235 for practical use.
Plutonium is also a good reactor fuel, but must be produced first from the plentiful but nonfissionable uranium-238 in a reactor as it only occurs naturally at trace levels.
While thorium cannot be directly used as fuel, the fissionable isotope uraniuum-233 which can be used as fuel can be produced from it in a nuclear reactor.
For transuranics other than plutonium (and maybe americium) specially designed fast neutron reactors are required to effectively use them as fuel, but they too can be used.
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How hydrogen effects society?
Hydrogen has many uses in society; not usually it's common form protium but it's two other popular isotopes deuterium and tritium. Deuterium and tritium are both used in the manufacturing of nuclear weapons and are being researched by scientists as possible energy sources when these two isotopes are put together in nuclear fusion. Tritium can be used as a nuclear tracer in some medical procedures. Deuterium can be used as a coolant in nuclear reactors and also used for high blood pressure treatment. Using fruit flies as subjects, feeding them certain amounts of deuterated water increased their lifespan by 30%; researchers are now looking into these results and possible applications to humans to increase lifespan.
Why is energy released when the nuclear reactions take place?
In general, energy is released when nuclear reactions take place because atomic nuclei are moving into lower energy states. To move to a lower energy state, energy must be released, as you might have guessed. And many nuclear fission and fusion reactions accomplish this. Note that there are some nuclear reactions that do not release energy, but actually require it. One example is the fusion of lighter elements into the heavy elements beyond iron. When stars, which are giant nuclear fusion engines, are young, the energy that is released in the fusion processes promotes continued fusion. But at some point, they run out of fuel. Nuclear fusion that creates trans-iron elements requires that energy be put into the reaction, and that's where supernova event has value. All elements heavier than iron are created in a supernova.
What is electron capture?
Simply put, electron capture is a nuclear change that an atom might undergo when there are "too many" protons in its nucleus. This atom is unstable, and an electron from an inner orbit will actually be "pulled into" the nucleus. Once there, the electron will "combine" with a proton, and the proton will be transformed into a neutron. This will result in the formation of a new element as a result of the nuclear transformation.
What element is put in balloons so they float?
helium
Is water and sugar and gold an element?
Gold is an element but water and sugar are compounds. Put together they would be a mixture.
Can you direct me to a website with a list of all the nuclear power plants in the world?
I have put a link to the Wikipedia page, "List of nuclear reactors," below. It seems to be pretty good, and includes some reactors that are not in nuclear plants, such as research reactors.
What element is put into nuclear reactors?
In fission reactors (by far the most common type), uranium, plutonium and thorium can be used. In fusion reactors (much less common, most are simply prototypes still being tested), hydrogen (or the isotopes deuterium or tritium) or helium can be used.
Can nuclear used as car fuel?
No, nuclear reactors are currently too big/heavy to put into a car.
How many nuclear power reactors are there in India?
See the list in link belowThere are six nuclear power stations in India, with a total of seventeen nuclear reactors in them. There are also six research and production reactors, but such reactors are not usually included in counts of reactors in a country because they are small and do not typically put power on the electric grid._______________________________________________________An updated AnswerThere are 21 operating power reactors in India (with total electric power 5308 MW) and 6 nuclear power reactors under construction (with total electric power 3907 MW) per the statistics of the International Atomic Energy Agency as of April 2004.
How are breeder reactors different from regular nuclear reactors?
A breeder reactor generates (in a way) new fuel, sometimes more fuel than it uses, by converting non-fissionable isotopes into fissionable isotopes, through neutron capture.
What is the relationship between electrical energy and nuclear energy?
Nuclear energy is used to produce power in nuclear power plants. Fission in the reactors produces heat, which is typically used to boil water. The steam powers a turbine, which drives a generator to produce electrical power. The power is put on the electrical power grid, where it is used by business, industrial and residential customers.
Does nuclear fusion occur in nuclear reactor?
No. "Reactors" contain fission reactions. No useful way of containing fusionon an industrial scale outside the laboratory has been developed yet.Edit: Tomak fusion reactors currently produce 10 times the energy that is put into them. The historical increase into the gain of fusion reactors has bettered the increase of capacity of DRAMs. The only reason that that it "isn't out of the laboratory" is because when you build a fusion reactor, it is usually called a laboratory.
What do nuclear reactors make?
They Heat Up And Basically Create Heat. In the creation of neculear energy cold water is put into the reactors chamber and it heatsd up due to the neclear reactor which creates steam that turns a turbine that passes through a generator creating electricity. Joshua, Aged 10
Which is more important nuclear energy or atomic energy?
Nothing really, nuclear bombs have more blast than atomic.
Give more examples of Questions about nuclear power stations?
If you go to Advanced Search and put in 'nuclear reactors' you will get a large number of questions that have been answered on this topic
Why are synthetic elements made?
It depends on the element. Some synthetic elements can be made by bombarding the nucleus of a lighter element with protons or alpha particles. The heavier synthetic elements are made by colliding atomic nuclei with one another.
What does a nuclear reactor produce?
In a nuclear power plant, the nuclear reactors are (generally) fission reactors that split atoms (of nuclear fuel) through a continuous, controlled neutron chain reaction. The primary useful product of a nuclear reactor is heat. The heat is used to generate steam that will drive steam turbines to generate electric power. Reactors are also used to produce nuclear material that is then applied to medicine or to make sources for radiography (x-ray pictures of welds and stuff) and other applications. There are other applications, like the generation of plutonium which is used for weapons or fuel for other reactors. Most reactors are designed, constructed and used to generate electric power. These reactors are set up to deliver large quantities of heat that is used to produce steam. This steam is used to drive steam-driven turbines, which generate electricity. There is a ton of information about the types of reactors and the applications to which they are put available from our friends at Wikipedia. A link is provided.
