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It is not burning in the normal chemical sense, though nuclear engineers do talk about fuel burnup. By this they mean the amount of energy extracted from a tonne of fuel. The process is nuclear fission which means that the uranium nuclei split apart into two smaller fragments, and this releases thermal energy.
What else can I help you with?
Is nuclear burned?
Nuclear energy as obtained in nuclear reactor power plants comes from the fission or splitting of the nuclei of uranium and plutonium. It is not a chemical burning process and does not need any other elements to make it happen.
Do nuclear reactors burn uranium or do they split the atoms?
Nuclear reactors split uranium atoms in a process called nuclear fission to release energy. This process generates heat that is used to produce steam, which then drives turbines to generate electricity. Burning uranium would involve a chemical reaction, while nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction.
How many pounds of coal do you have to burn to equal the potential energy of one pellet of uranium?
# I'm not clear what size pellet you mean. However for Uranium235 (the fissile isotope), if it is fully used up, 1 kg will give as much energy as 1500 tonnes of coal, ie 1,500,000 kg of coal, so that is the ratio, 1,500,000 to 1. Of course uranium as loaded into the reactor is actually about 4 percent U235, the rest U238 which is not fissile, so the U235 is 1/25 of the total weight of uranium, and if you mean the total uranium weight you therefore have to reduce this ratio by 25, and get 60,000 to 1.
Compare and contrast coal and nuclear power plant?
Coal and nuclear power plants are both used to generate electricity, but they differ in terms of energy source and environmental impact. Coal power plants burn coal to produce heat, while nuclear power plants use nuclear reactions to generate heat. Nuclear power plants produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions compared to coal plants, but they create radioactive waste that needs to be carefully stored. Coal power plants are cheaper to build and operate, but they contribute to air pollution and climate change.
What Nuclear material is used in nuclear power plant?
The reactor is usually initially fueled with uranium (for water moderated reactors this is enriched to 3% uranium-235, but other designs may be enriched more or less than that). A few reactors (e.g. reactors in France) are initially fueled with plutonium or a mixture of both uranium and plutonium.After a reactor has operated for a period of time significant levels of transuranic elements have built up in the reactor core, these will also fission and the reactor uses them also as fuel (but unless it is a fast breeder reactor it neither produces nor burns these transuranic fuels very efficiently.Note: a fast breeder reactor contains no moderator to slow neutrons and therefor if fueled with uranium usually requires it to be enriched to 93.5% uranium-235, commonly referred to as weapons grade uranium). The advantage of a fast breeder is that it efficiently converts the normally unusable uranium-238 to plutonium and other transuranics. The plutonium it produces would have far too much plutonium-240 and plutonium-241 in it (due to long fuel burn cycles) for use in weapons and could be used to fuel nuclear reactors of other types. It is also able to efficiently burn all the transuranics it produces, meaning the waste it produces would contain little more than the fission products which all have short halflives; therefor this waste would only have to be stored a few hundred years (not the tens of thousands of years that the wastes of current reactors must be stored, because they still contain unburned plutonium and other transuranics).
Can a nuclear power plant burn uranium?
A nuclear power plant does use uranium as fuel It "burns" it in the nuclear sense not the chemical sense
What fuel is used in nuclear power plants?
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate, control, and sustain a nuclear chain reaction. Nuclear power is energy produced from controlled nuclear reactions. When it comes to just standard fuel across the table it would have to be: Plutonium, Uranium, and Thorium.
What particular type of atom do nuclear power plants take nuclear energy from?
Uranium-235 when started. After running a while they also burn transuranics like Plutonium-239 and Americium-241.
What is nuclear energy if it is not nonrenewable and not a fossil fuel?
It is nonrenewable!! Once we burn up all the Uranium we have no more.
What is a way to produce heat energy?
Burn a fossil fuel like coal or oil, or use uranium in a nuclear reactor
Is uranium a form of chemical energy?
No, since uranium in a radioactive element, it stores Nuclear energy.Actually metallic uranium stores lots of chemical energy and can burn violently. Finely divided metallic uranium is even pyrophoric (it will ignite on exposure to air).
What is nuclear used to produce?
Nuclear energy originates from the splitting of uranium atoms – a process called fission. This generates heat to produce steam, which is used by a turbine generator to generate electricity. Because nuclear power plants do not burn fuel, they do not produce greenhouse gas emissions.
Is nuclear burned?
Nuclear energy as obtained in nuclear reactor power plants comes from the fission or splitting of the nuclei of uranium and plutonium. It is not a chemical burning process and does not need any other elements to make it happen.
Should people build more nuclear power stations in the UK?
Yes, because nuclear power stations induce energy from a nucleus. That nucleus being from the most common element called Uranium. Unlike power plants that burn coal which is a fossil fuel which leads to globabl warming.... Nuclear power stations dont BURN anything. they just establish nucleuses in a 'chain reaction'. where more and more nucleuses mutate and doubles and doubles whilst giving out TONS of energy. nuclear is a clean process. But it is extremely expensive to build and it would take a long time to make the nuclear reactor and apparatus... they need to be patient. :)
Does nuclear POWER give off CO2?
Nuclear power plants do not emit carbon dioxide (CO2) during electricity generation, as they do not burn fossil fuels. However, CO2 emissions can be indirectly associated with nuclear power from activities such as mining uranium, constructing plants, and managing waste.
Do nuclear reactors burn uranium or do they split the atoms?
Nuclear reactors split uranium atoms in a process called nuclear fission to release energy. This process generates heat that is used to produce steam, which then drives turbines to generate electricity. Burning uranium would involve a chemical reaction, while nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction.
What are some advantages of nuclear power as a source of energy?
Nuclear power does not release greenhouse gases or other atmospheric pollutants (barring a melt-down), unlike power plants that burn fossil fuels (coal, oil, or natural gas). Unlike solar power, nuclear power is independent of the weather conditions. Unlike hydroelectric power, nuclear power can be installed anywhere.
