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What is the half-life of the isotope of uranium used in a CANDU reactor?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
CANDU reactors works now with natural uranium.
Uranium 235
- neutrons: 143
- Atomic Mass: 235,043 929 918 ± 0,000 001 957
- half life: 7,038.108 years
- concentration in natural uranium: 0,7204 %
- 235U is a fissile isotope
Uranium 238
- neutrons: 146
- atomic mass: 238,050 788 247 ± 0,000 002 044
- half life: 4,468.109 years
- concentration in natural uranium: 99,2742 %
- 238U is a fertile isotope
Uranium 234
not important
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoCANDU reactors use natural uranium; the fissile isotope is 235U.
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How does the uranium used in a CANDU reactor exist in nature?
CANDU burns natural unenriched uranium.
Does CANDU reactor use enriched uranium?
CANDU Reactors are specifically designed such that they do not require enriched uranium, and can operate entirely on naturally-occurring uranium. A CANDU design is generally used by parties that do not desire uranium enrichment facilities, due to the cost of those facilities. That said, a CANDU reactor CAN use enriched uranium, they are fully capable of supporting that fuel type.
Name one type of nuclear reactor?
CANDU, a reactor type designed in Canada which uses heavy water as the primary coolant.
Why Pressurized Water Reactor nuclear reactor is the most commonly used reactor?
I guess because it is the one with the fewest operational problems and the longest operational life. BWR's introduce the problems of a contaminated turbine. Gas cooled graphite reactors are efficient but there are life limitations on the graphite. Heavy water reactors have the benefit of using natural uranium but the heavy water is very expensive to produce. So the choice is between enriching uranium as for the PWR, or producing heavy water as for the CANDU. Most countries are now opting the PWR way as enriching uranium by centrifuge has become much less expensive than the old gaseous diffusion method.
In a reactor the control rods are?
Control rods are neutron absorbing materials used the check the operation of a nuclear reactror. Some examples: Ag-Cd-In (especially for CANDU reactors), boron carbide and other boron compounds, lanthanides compounds, hafnium compounds, etc.
How does the uranium used in a CANDU reactor exist in nature?
CANDU burns natural unenriched uranium.
Does CANDU reactor use enriched uranium?
CANDU Reactors are specifically designed such that they do not require enriched uranium, and can operate entirely on naturally-occurring uranium. A CANDU design is generally used by parties that do not desire uranium enrichment facilities, due to the cost of those facilities. That said, a CANDU reactor CAN use enriched uranium, they are fully capable of supporting that fuel type.
Why does uranium ore have to be enriched before its used in a nuclear power plant?
1. Uranium must be refined to obtain "nuclear grade" uranium. 2. The enrichment in the isotope 235U depends on the type of the nuclear reactor; some reactors (as CANDU) work with natural uranium.
The fuel used in a nuclear reactor usually comes from?
Mines, usually it is uranium, with only 0.7% (aproximately) U-235 (the isotope that is used for fission), the rest is U-238, known as depleted uranium, or natural uranium. Then it enriched to about 3-5% U-235, unless it is used in a CANDU reactor, in which case it can almost literaly be used straight out of the ground.
Does uranium need to be enriched in order to be used in a nuclear reactor?
Some nuclear power reactors work with low enriched uranium; CANDU reactors work with natural uranium.
How much uranium 235 is used in a nuclear reactor?
Depending on the type and the power of the nuclear reactor. An example; a CANDU type reactor of 700 MW need 700 kg uranium-235 and only ca. 500 kg are "burned".
What type of nuclear reactor is used in Ontario to produce electricity?
This is the Candu type, which was uniquely developed in Canada to use heavy water moderator and natural uranium fuel
What isotope of uranium is used as fuel in a candu reactor?
Candu reactors have traditionally used natural uranium, which contains 0.7 percent U-235, which is the fissile isotope that produces all the nuclear fission energy. Proposals have been made that Candus could use fuel that has been discharged from light water reactors and might still contain about 0.9 percent U-235, or could even use fuel made from depleted uranium (mostly U-238) together with fissile plutonium available from dismantled nuclear weapons, but I don't think such proposals have reached the stage of implementation. For one thing, Canada doesn't have any nuclear weapons, so it would require some fuel manufacture to be set up in the US to make this fuel, or to utilise US spent fuel. There is plenty of this in US storage but no route for using it to make Candu fuel, which is of different dimensions and assembly details. However this might conceivably be done in the future.
Two important functions of heavy water in a candu reactor?
moderator, coolant
Name one type of nuclear reactor?
CANDU, a reactor type designed in Canada which uses heavy water as the primary coolant.
What is the input energy of nuclear fission reactor?
It is different for all reactor types, but I'll tell you about the CANDU, as it is widely used, and I know the most about it. Each CANDU reactor holds 4500-6500 fuel bundles at one time, each 50cm long and 10cm in diameter, each weighing about 20kg. Each produces roughly 1GWh (gigawatt hour) of power during its time in the reactor.
Does a critical mass of uranium require enriched uranium?
No. Heavy Water moderated reactors like the CANDU type can go critical and run on natural (0.72%) Uranium just fine.
