Nuclear reactions are one of the most efficient and clean ways to produce electricity. In 2012 alone, nuclear reactors produced 13% of the world's electricity. Nuclear reactors are the structures that contain this immense reaction. They are billion dollar structures and have to made just right for them to work. If they work though, the energy output is enormous. To understand how nuclear reactors are made, you have to understand how nuclear reactions works and what makes them go.
There are two types of nuclear reactions, fusion and fission. Fusion is what takes place in our sun. It is when two particles fuse together to create a larger one. It produces so much heat an energy though, that we have no way to contain it. Fission on the other hand, does not produce as much heat. We are able to contain it with materials that we currently have. This explains why we use fission in our nuclear reactors and not fusion.
Fission, at its most simplest, is the splitting of a particle. Now, this happens every day with certain elements, and we don’t really notice. It is a type of radioactive decay. This usually only happens with heavy elements though. They are so heavy that the concentration of them on earth is so small that it has no effect on us. When you hear of Uranium being radioactive, this is what they are talking about. This is what is picked up by a Geiger counter.
Now we can’t just let that type of fission happen and expect there is be a substantial energy output. Certainly not one that produces 13% of the world's electricity. So, what we do is we give the reaction a little "kick". This is called induced fission. What happens is we start the reaction by bombarding neutrons into the fissionable material. They material then splits...
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...with a moderator that keeps the reaction stable. The rods are then lowered into the coolant. When the reaction takes place, it produces an enormous amount of heat. That heat is used to produce steam and them pressurize it in the same container. The steam then escapes to the turbine.
There is one slight variation that is in use. It was originally designed to be used at naval institutions and on submarines. This version is called a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR). It is also called a WER in Russia. In this version, water is still used as a coolant and a moderator. Water is pumped around the fuel rods under extreme pressure. This water is then run through cooling circuits which transfer the heat from the original water to the water that actually evaporates ant turns to steam. It then works like any other reactor and has the steam spin a turbine which produces power.
...ed the water begins to boil and steam is produced. When the steam is produced is moved up towards the reactor opening, as it moves up the steam passes through turbines that spin creating energy. The turbines begin to move which is what produces the energy. During this process a lot of steam is produced which is why so much power is created.
Physicists started to realize that stable nuclei can be converted to unstable nuclei. Through such process, they discovered that heavy nuclei can undergo nuclear fission. While testing, they added a neutron to an isotope of Uranium 235. This resulted Uranium 235 to become unstable and break down into Barium and Krypton, releasing two to three more neutrons. The breakdown of Uranium 235 is called “fission”.
Radioactive Waste One of the most talked about opposition to nuclear fission is the radioactive waste it produces. Radioactive waste is what is left behind after using a reactor to make electricity. There are two levels of waste, low and high, but both are regulated by the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. High level waste is made up of fuel that’s been used directly in the reactor, which is highly radioactive but can still be disposed of. Low-level waste is the contaminated items that have been exposed to radiation.
Nuclear energy is a very powerful source of energy. Just a little bit is required to make large amounts of electricity, which powers 1 in 5 households in the U.S. Nuclear energy has been advanced over the years and has been relied on heavily by many countries today.
Nuclear energy must be a consideration for the future with the rapidly depleting supply of fossil fuels. This type of energy can be created through nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. Nuclear fission is the splitting of a heavy atom into two or more parts, releasing huge amounts of energy. The release of energy can be controlled and captured for generating electricity. Nuclear fusion involves bombarding hydrogen atoms together to form helium. In the long run, nuclear fusion has greater potential than fission.
The concept of nuclear fission within the earth started in the fifties. Geophysicists began to question whether natural occurring nuclear fission was possible. It seemed that it was a definite possibility and eventually, empirical evidence presented itself. In 1972 at the Oklo uranium mine in western Africa, a natural nuclear fission reactor was discovered deep within the earth. It was later determined that this reactor had been burning for almost two million years (Earth’s Core). The discovery provided an answer to the possibility of naturally occurring nuclear fission in the earth. The answer was yes. This led to more questions, however. What were the implications of such a process occurring naturally inside of the Earth? As time progressed, scientists learned more about naturally occurring reactors and new theories developed. Through observations of other planets, and observing the Earth in respect to the solar system, some bold new theories arose.
Cells are able to grow and reproduce. Cells reproduce by splitting and passing on their genes (hereditary information) to Daughter cells. The nucleus always divides before the rest of the cell divides. Therefore each daughter cell contains their own nucleus. The nucleus controls the cells activities through the genetic material DNA. The cells in a body are all the same except the gametes they were all made from one cell, the Zygote. This is the cell that was formed when two gametes from your parents fused.
“The half-life of a radioisotope is the time required for half the atoms in a given sample to undergo radioactive decay; for any particular radioisotope, the half-life is independent of the initial amount of...
an initial energy of about 1 MeV will induce fission is rather low, but can be
After the condensation process is finished and the steam reverts back to water, it is pumped into the reactor again, thus completing the process of producing nuclear-based power. Next, hydro-electricity is electricity produced by moving water, flowing past a turbine connected to a generator (“Hydropower”). According to Nationalgeographic.com, a typical hydro-plant is a system with three parts: an electric plant where electricity is produced, a dam that can be opened or closed to control water flow, and a reservoir where water can be stored.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Nuclear fusion occurs when two atomic nuclei collide with enough energy to bind together to form one nucleus. Nuclear fusion occurs in the core of our sun, and is the source of its tremendous heat. In the sun hydrogen nuclei, single protons, fuse together and form a new nucleus. In the conversion, a small amount of mass is converted into energy. It is this energy that heats the sun.
The process need toluene and hydrogen as a main reactor. Then, toluene and hydrogen are converted in a reactor packed with catalyst to produce benzene and methane. This reaction is exothermic and the operating conditions are 500 0C to 660 0C, and 20 to 60 bar of pressure. This process begins with mixing fresh toluene with a stream of recycle unreacted toluene, and the mixing is achieved in a storage tank. Then, the toluene is pumped to combine it with a stream of mixed hydrogen and fresh hydrogen gas. The mixture of toluene and hydrogen is preheated before it is introduce to the heater or furnace. In the furnace, the stream is heated to 600 0C, then introduced into the reactor. Basically, the main reactions occurs in the reactor.
turbine via interceptor valves and control valves and after expanding enters the L.P. turbine stage via 2 numbers of cross over pipes. In the L.P. stage the steam expands in axially opposite direction to counteract the trust and enters the condenser placed directly below the L.P. turbine. The cooling water flowing throughout the condenser tubes condenses the steam and the condensate collected in the hot well of the condenser. The condensate collected is pumped by means of 3*50% duty condensate pumps through L.P. heaters to deaerator from where the boiler feed pump delivers the water to boiler through H.P. heaters thus forming a closed
What is radioactivity? Radioactive isotopes are heavy nuclei of certain elements having extra neutrons. The extra neutrons in their nuclei cause them to be unstable so the nuclei break up spontaneously, emitting alpha, beta and gamma radiations. For example,
Nuclear energy is generated by a process called fission. Fission occurs within the reactor of a nuclear power plant when a neutron is fired at an atom of uranium causing it to split and release subsequent neutrons.1 These are able to crash into other uranium atoms causing a chain reaction and releasing a great deal of heat energy.