What type of nuclear reaction is used n power plants?

Answer 1

Most nuclear power stations have pressurized water thermonuclear reactors. The nuclear reactions that take place in these reactors are fission (atom splitting) and nuclear decay. (Let's not split hairs so we can concentrate on splitting atoms.) In simple terms, these reactors work by fission of enriched uranium, which is uranium with a higher-than-natural amount of the U235 isotope. This isotope has a higher probability of capturing a neutron and splitting than other stuff. That's the fission part. After the uranium splits, neutrons are released and these can be used to make more fissions if they are slowed (thermalized). Links to Wikipedia are provided. There must be some consideration given to the fission products. These are the "broken pieces" left after an atom splits. There are a fair number of these and they continue to decay. Their half lives and decay schemes vary, and an interested party would review the Wikipedia article to get the low down on them. A link is provided.

Answer 2

Nuclear power plants primarily use nuclear fission reactions to generate electricity. In these reactions, heavy atomic nuclei such as uranium-235 are split into lighter nuclei, releasing energy in the process. This energy is used to heat water and produce steam, which drives turbines to generate electricity.

Answer 3

There are two types of reactions available for nuclear power plants. One is fission, which happens with an atom splits into two smaller atoms, plus some particles and heat. The other is fusion. which happens when two atoms are combined into a single larger atom, plus some particles and heat - if the original atoms are small enough.

Fission is what is used in power plants to produce electricity today. The problems of how to accomplish this were solved during the fifteen years before the first nuclear power plant started to produce power. The problems with fission power include limited amounts of fuel, the possibility of accident on the scale of a catastrophic disaster, and the unanswered question of what to do with very dangerous waste, among others.

Fusion is not used in power plants today, because some technical problems have to be solved before this can be done. Among these is the problem of how to contain the reaction when it is so hot that it will vaporize any physical object. Research seems to be focusing on holding the reaction with magnetic fields.

Answer 4

The purpose of a nuclear reactor is to create and sustain a fission chain reaction in order to produce heat to make steam to drive turbines and produce electrical power (extremely simplified explanation).

A fission chain reaction is the interaction of neutrons with fissile materials (elements that can be fissioned). Some enriched fuel (such as uranium-238) is introduced into the reactor core. It produces neutrons as radiation. If more fissile material is present ("fuel" such as uranium-235), that interaction repeats to make more neutrons, and so on. A nuclear reactor is designed to sustain a fission chain reaction and control the rate at which that reaction occurs.

Answer 5

Nuclear fission of Uranium-235 is the predominant reaction in todays nuclear industry.

Answer 6

Fission of Uranium-235 nuclei produces heat in the plant.

The heat is used to boil water, and the steam blows through a steam turbine

which turns an electric generator.

Answer 7

Nuclear power plants use nuclear fission to generate power.

Answer 8

Power plants use nuclear fission, which splits an atom into lighter elements and releases energy.

Answer 9

Nuclear fission

Answer 10

Fission of U-235