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A steady state chain fission reaction is set up in the reactor, when just enough of the neutrons released in each fission is captured by other fissionable nuclei to keep the number of fissions occurring every second at a constant level. Thus the reactor power is held at a steady level. The reactor in terms of nuclear properties is then said to be "critical". As operation proceeds the U-235 gets used up, but this is counteracted to some extent by the production of plutonium from U-238, the plutonium also being fissionable. Eventually the reactor runs out of fissionable material and has to be refuelled, but this can be only at intervals of two years or so, between these refuelling outages the power output can be maintained continously.

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