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Atomic reactors do not always need to be cooled as some chemical reactions are endothermic or even have no or verry little enthalpy change.
Nuclear reactors on the other hand are difficult to cool for the follwign reasons:
Contamination of cooling medium: The medium used to cool the reactor, usually water or a gas, is subject to intense radiation which could decompose the substance and transport radiation around the building
Extreme temperatures: As nuclear reactors are extremely hot, many substances will undergo thermal decomosition and / or expand producing excess pressure.
In the recent meltdowns in Japan, primary cooling water has stopped because of the earthquake. Becasue the fuel rods are no longer fully submersed, the cooling water is turning to steam then decomposing into Hydrogen and Oxygen then combusting and exploding
What else can I help you with?
What caused the nuclear reactor to begin to melt down in japan?
the cause of the melt down of the reactors in japan is the water that is needed to cool down the reactors
How do coolant systems work in nuclear reactors?
Coolant Systems on a Nuclear Reactor works by pumping large amounts of Sea Water into the reactors to cool it down and produce steam.
What material can be used to cool down a nuclear meltdown?
One material that can be used to cool down a nuclear meltdown is water. It is commonly used as a coolant in nuclear reactors to absorb excess heat. Other materials like liquid sodium or helium may also be used in some reactor designs.
Why is it difficult to cool down in a rain forest?
It's difficult to cool down in a rainforest because of the high humidity levels. The moisture in the air makes it harder for sweat to evaporate, which is our body's natural way of cooling down. Additionally, the dense vegetation in rainforests can block airflow and trap heat, making it feel hotter.
How many reactors were there in the fukushima operation at the time the earthquake hit?
There were six reactors at Fukushima Daiichi. At the time of the earthquake, three of these, reactors 1, 2, and 3, were operating. Reactor 4 was shut down for refueling, and reactors 5 and 6 were in cold shutdown.
How is the life without electric fan be?
It would be difficult because the electric fan helps our skin cool down on a hot day and it also allows our body temperature to cool down so that we aren't so sweaty all the time.
What went wrong at the Japanese nuclear power plant?
The power plant was hit by a major earthquake and responded perfectly, from everything we can determine at this point. It takes a great deal of energy and time to shut down something that generates this much power and the shutdown procedure was working until a Tsunami wave hit the plant and washed away the backup generators that were being used to cool the reactors. American reactors have these generators underground. The units at this plant were above ground and were destroyed in the wave. This left the reactors with no method to cool the systems or to destroy the hydrogen buildup.
How many Japanese nuclear reactors melted down after the earthquake?
3
Why are power stations which use nuclear to produce electricity built along coasts in most countries?
Because Neuclear Power Plants need water to cool down the reactors and thus the sea is a great place to get cold water from! :)
Is cool down hyphenated?
The term "cool down" is typically written as two separate words when used as a verb phrase, as in "to cool down." However, when used as a noun or adjective, it can be hyphenated as "cool-down," such as in "a cool-down period."
What properties increase down the periodic table?
Atomic Mass
Why can't the reactor in Japan use control rods to cool down?
There are six reactors at Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, and three of them (numbers one, two and three) were operating at the time of the recent earthquake. All of these had all their control rods dropped in right after the earthquake struck. This shut down those reactors. The problem is that the operating reactors had been operating at high power for some time before shutdown. And this left a large amount of fission products in the fuel element in the cores of these reactors when they shut down.The fission products of nuclear fission reactions are largely radioactive, and they generate a lot of thermal energy as they decay. It is decay heat that must be removed from a reactor that has just been shut down to keep it cool and prevent it from melting down. The control rods can do nothing to stop decay heat from the fission fragments, and cannot cool the core after shutdown. Only coolant and circulating pumps and heat exchangers can do this. But the tsunami knocked out power to the plant and damaged the emergency generators that provide the plant with back-up power. The cores overheated, went into meltdown, and the dominos continue to fall.
