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After the nuclear fuel is spent the fuel is radioactive. This radiation causes decay heat. The result of the radiation causes movement of atoms, converting it into thermal energy.

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Q: Why do spent nuclear fuels generate heat?
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Related questions

How nuclear fuels can be use to generate electricity?

Nuclear fissions in nuclear fuels generate heat and electricity.


Why are fossil fuels and nuclear fuels similar?

The only similarity is that they are both used to generate electricity through use of heat engines.


Why did Japan use nuclear reactors?

Japan has few natural resources. They have to generate their electricity from imported fuels, primarily fossil (petrochemical) fuels. The nuclear reactor is an option to the use of fossil fuels to generate heat to generate electric power, and for Japan, an island nation, it was one that came with acceptable risks.


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Heat from fossil fuels is used to boil water and turn it into steam in order to generate electricty.


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Think of a nuclear power station as a slowed down nuclear bomb. The heat energy released in the fission process is used to turn water into steam to drive electric turbine generators.


What are the example of nuclear force?

The energy released when a nuclear power plant generates heat to generate steam to generate electricity. The energy released when a nuclear weapon detonates.


How is electricity generated by nuclear fuels?

The nuclear reaction creates heat. The heat is used to create steam and run a steam generator.


What do nuclear plants use instead of fossil fuels?

Nuclear plants use fissionable material to generate heat instead of burning fossil fuel for the same purpose. The fissionable fuel is in the core of a nuclear reactor, and this core and the associated elements of the nuclear plant allow us to tap nuclear energy via nuclear fission.


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It's used in stars to generate light and heat. Even though we've been trying for decades, humans haven't yet been able to sustain fusion.


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Heat can be produced through release of nuclear energy, but there are many other ways of producing heat as well, burning fossil fuels for example.


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How are fossil fuels transformed into usable energy?

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