Nuclear Reactors

Heavy water can be used in a nuclear reactor to moderate the speed of neutrons, making it easier for uranium-238 to absorb a neutron and become plutonium-239. This process is known as breeding plutonium in a reactor and is one method of producing plutonium for nuclear weapons or fuel.

A nuclear reactor exploded in 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. The explosion released a large amount of radioactive material into the atmosphere, making it one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.

Nuclear reactors do not typically use periscopes. Periscopes are usually used in submarines to see above water while remaining submerged. Nuclear reactors utilize control rooms with monitoring equipment and cameras to observe and control the reactor's operations.

A tokamak is a type of magnetic confinement device used to create controlled nuclear fusion reactions. It uses magnetic fields to confine a hot plasma of hydrogen isotopes, forcing them to collide and fuse together, releasing energy in the process. The goal is to achieve sustained fusion reactions that could potentially provide a clean and abundant source of energy in the future.

Yes, tritium water can be used as a moderator in a nuclear reactor. However, tritium itself is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, so careful handling and safety measures are required due to its potential health risks. Research is being conducted on the use of tritium in nuclear fusion reactors, but it is not commonly used as a moderator in fission reactors.

High frequency in a DC motor can be caused by factors such as mechanical resonance, electrical noise, or incorrect control signal frequency. These can lead to instability and performance issues in the motor operation. It is important to identify and address the root cause to ensure smooth and efficient motor performance.

Coolant, such as water or a specific type of liquid metal, is used in a nuclear reactor to absorb the heat released during the nuclear fission process. The coolant carries away the heat and helps to regulate the temperature within the reactor to prevent overheating.

The nuclear reactors we have now are fission reactors. This means that they obtain their energy from nuclear reactions that split large nuclei such as uranium into smaller ones such as rubidium and cesium. There is a binding energy that holds a nucleus together. If the binding energy of the original large nucleus is greater than the sum of the binding energies of the smaller pieces, you get the difference in energy as heat that can be used in a power station to generate electricity.

A fusion reaction works the other way. It takes small nuclei like deuterium (heavy hydrogen) and fuses them together to make larger ones such as helium. If the binding energy of the two deuterium nuclei is greater than that of the final larger helium nucleus, it can be used to generate electricity.

There are two main differences between fission and fusion. The first is that the materials required for fission are rarer and more expensive to produce than those for fusion. For example, uranium has to be mined in special areas and then purified by difficult processes. By contrast, even though deuterium makes up only 0.02 percent of naturally occurring hydrogen, we have a vast supply of hydrogen in the water making up the oceans. The second difference is that the products of fission are radioactive and so need to be treated carefully, as they are dangerous to health. The products of fusion are not radioactive (although a realistic reactor will likely have some relatively small amount of radioactive product).

The problem with building fusion reactors is that a steady, controlled fusion reaction is very hard to achieve. It is still a subject of intense research. The main problem is that to achieve fusion we need to keep the nuclei we wish to fuse at extremely high temperatures and close enough for them to have a chance of fusing with one other. It is extremely difficult to find a way of holding everything together, since the nuclei naturally repel each other and the temperatures involved are high enough to melt any solid substance known. As technology improves, holding everything together will become easier, but it seems that we are a long way off from having commercial fusion reactors.

In a nuclear reactor, uranium atoms are bombarded with neutrons, causing them to split in a process called fission. This process releases a huge amount of heat energy, which is used to heat water and produce steam. The steam then drives turbines connected to generators, producing electricity.

Critical is that point when the population of fission events is neither growing nor decreasing, and that it is sustained by its own means. In this state, on a large scale statistical basis, exactly one neutron produces one fission, which goes one to produce one neutron, which goes on to produce one fission, and so on and so forth. Subcritical is the state where that population is decreasing, and supercritical is where that population is increasing.

Criticality is also related to power output, as the number of fission events is directly tied to energy or power output. When you ramp a nuclear reactor up in power, you go slightly supercritical while you increase the population, and therefore the energy output, but once you achieve your target power, you let your moderator step in and modulate the power in a self-modulating cycle. Similarly, as you trim power down, you go slightly subcritical while you decrease the population, and then you let the moderator kick back in, that is, unless you lose control and you initiate a trip/scram, taking the reactor to shutdown, which is way-way-subcritical.

A nuclear fuel rod typically consists of pellets made of uranium dioxide, which are stacked and encased in a zirconium alloy tube. The uranium in the pellets undergoes fission reactions in a controlled nuclear reactor to generate heat energy. Other materials such as control rods and cladding are also part of the overall design for safety and efficiency.

The CIRUS reactor in India is commonly used for studies involving uranium heavy water lattices. This reactor was used for research purposes before being permanently shut down in 2010.

While palladium is used in certain types of fuel cells, it is not typically used in constructing arc reactors as portrayed in popular fiction like Iron Man. The concept of an arc reactor is mainly a fictional device, and the materials and technologies involved in its construction do not exist in reality.

Mainly Plutonium fuel.

They are usually started on highly enriched uranium (i.e., weapons grade) fuel, with a breeding blanket of depleted uranium surrounding the core. Over time the breeding blanket is periodically changed and the old one reprocessed to extract plutonium; which is used to make replacement fuel for the reactor (and sometimes others). So the reactor starts on uranium fuel and each time the fuel is replaced it transitions gradually to plutonium fuel.

It is also possible to tune a breeder reactor to operate as a plutonium burner (without breeding new fuel). Such a reactor would burn plutonium only. This has been suggested as an effective means of disposing of the current "excess" of plutonium removed from retired nuclear weapons.

Hydrogen and oxygen. On the sun two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom are fused at the core which keeps the suns light going and giving it more energy. The result of this is water. H2( hydrogen 2 ) O( oxygen ) h2o

So far, only one reactor has successfully produced more energy than was expended, and that one is in California. But 23 countries currently have experimental reactors: USA, Canada, China, Japan, Australia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, South Korea, the European Union, the Czech Republic, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, UK, Ukraine, and Sweden.

When working around nuclear reactors, it's important to wear appropriate protective clothing such as coveralls, gloves, and safety goggles to prevent exposure to radiation or hazardous materials. Specialized gear like dosimeters to measure radiation levels may also be necessary. Follow all safety protocols and guidelines provided by the facility.

Fission (atom splitting) nuclear reactors are used on ships, on land, and in space satellites, because they provide a lot of continuous energy for a very long time, from a small amount of material. A pound of fissionable material will last much long than tons of coal, or gallons of oil.

Except for a few minutes, Fusion (the joining of atoms) does not work unless in a star or an atomic bomb.

No. The heat from the reactor is used to boil water. The steam from said water is used to turn turbines which produces electricity.

No, there is no combustion in a nuclear reactor. Nuclear energy does not need combustion to start it, there is no chemical process involved. It works simply by a neutron chain reaction.

Radiation spreads through the emission of energy in the form of particles or electromagnetic waves. This energy can travel through air, water, and even solid materials. The spread of radiation can be influenced by factors such as the type of radiation, its source, and the surrounding environment.

Touching a nuclear plant could result in severe burns and radiation exposure, which can lead to serious health issues including radiation sickness, cancer, and even death. It is important to always follow safety protocols and stay far away from areas with high radiation levels at nuclear plants.

First, the nuclear power plant CANNOT explode, and it didn't. What has apparently happened is that after the earthquake on March 11, 2011, the power plant was SCRAMMED, which means an emergency shutdown procedure. This prevents the nuclear fission reaction from continuing.

It is the heat of nuclear fission that boils the water into steam, and the steam turbines generate electricity. But even after the reactor is shut down, there is still LOTS of heat in the core, and you need electricity from some other source to power the pumps that circulate the cooling water. The nuclear power plant included a number of auxiliary diesel generators to generate enough electricity to cool the reactor core, but the diesel engines were disabled by the tsunami. The tsunami also destroyed all of the electrical power wires in the area, so with no power being generated by the reactor and no electricity available to run the coolant pumps, the reactors overheated.

We still aren't sure what has happened, but some of the uranium fuel rods appear to have been partially melted, and some radiation has been released into the environment. Some radioactive iodine-131 has been detected in the water supplies in Tokyo, but at very low levels. Iodine-131 has a half-life of only 8 days, so it is pretty radioactive, but it will all be gone in just a few months. However, radioactive iodine can cause thyroid problems, especially for infants, which is why the Japanese government has asked people not to drink the tap water. An "activated charcoal" water filter can remove even trace amounts of iodine from the water.

One of the problems with measuring radioactivity is that our detectors are SO GOOD these days that even very low - as in, "harmless" - levels of radioactivity can be detected. So far, nobody has been sickened by radiation, although several technicians have exceeded their "yearly safe allowances" for radioactive exposure.

If you are in the United States, you are certainly at a much greater risk of having an airplane crash on your house than you are from radiation for the leaking Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

Uranium is the radioactive material element used in nuclear reactors, including the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan. Uranium undergoes fission reactions, releasing energy that is used to generate electricity.