Nuclear+Reactors

Nuclear Reactors Created by: Pierce Dryzmkowski and Ruby Hyra



How Nuclear Power Plants Work
In nuclear power plants, water is the generator. Water is turned into steam which then powers the generator that makes electricity. In these plants, the heat used to make steam is created when uranium atoms are split. This is called fission.

Key Components of a Nuclear Reactor
- A rod shaped fuel element in a nuclear reactor. Fuel rods are assembled into bundles called fuel assemblies. They are loaded individually loaded into the reactor core. - A control Rod is a steel or aluminum rod that can be moved up or down to control the rate of the nuclear reaction. - Moderators is used to slow down neutrons in the cores of nuclear reactors so that they have more chance of inducing nuclear fusion. Heavy water or graphite are two examples of moderators. - Generators are devices that convert mechanical energy to electric energy. - The cooling system uses water to remove surplus heat from the steam circuit. Two different types of power plants are used in the United States Pressurized Water Reactors: keep the water used in the plant under constant pressure so that it becomes heated, but never reaches a boil. The water is cycled through tubes in steam generators, which turns the water in the generator to turn into steam. This steam that was just made is what turns the turbine generator. Boiling Water Reactor: the water is heated by fission until it and turns into steam to turn the turbine generator. The steam is turned into water again so it can be used over again in the same process in both types of nuclear generators.

Heavy Water -Name: deuterium oxide -A form of water that contains an abnormally large amount of deuterium, aka heavy hydrogen -This type of hydrogen is the hydrogen-1 isotope, that makes up most of the hydrogen that's in regular water -deuterium has one extra neutron that makes the atom heavier, and the extra neutron accounts for only about 10 percent of the atom -It is important because it has a role in regulating the processes of nuclear reactors that don't use enriched uranium. -Heavy water is used as a regulator because during the process of fission, the neutrons released move quickly, and in order to have a more controlled chain reaction, the heavy water is used to steady the quickness of the reaction with it’s extra neutron weight.

Problems/environmental concerns with nuclear reactors. - Waste Disposal is one of the worst things about nuclear power. Radioactive waste is very hard to get rid of. Fuel rods that are spent are very harmful if released into the environment. Sometimes radioactive waste can find its way into waterways and cause harm to the habitats of the environment. As of right now we do not have a means of getting rid of nuclear waste, so all of it is piling up across all of the nuclear reactor facilitators in the world. [] [] [] [] [] []