How Nuclear Reactors Use Nuclear Fission to Generate Electricity
Nuclear reactors use nuclear fission to generate electricity. In nuclear reactors, the fuel used in Uranium. The Uranium is about 3% enriched, meaning that 3% of the fuel is U-235, the unstable, radioactive isotope that makes the fission possible. The rest of the fuel is the stable isotope U-238. The fission process works by the splitting of atoms. The large amount of U-238 and low amount of U-235 is for a reason: to prevent nuclear explosions within the power plant. When one U- 235 atom splits due to radioactive decay, it releases a neutron and a lot of heat. The neutron then collides with another U-235 atom to split and release a neutron and heat. As the process continues, the number of neutrons released and the number of atoms splitting grows exponentially. The reactor operators can lower what they call control rods to control the speed and amount of the reactions (World Nuclear Association). The simple version of how fission generates electricity is as follows. The Uranium is surrounded by water. The heat that is released as a result of fission heats the water and turns it into steam. The steam turns turbines and the turbines generate electricity. The electricity generated by the nuclear power plants power about 20% of the American power grid (NEI). The NRC regulates all the nuclear reactors in the United States. It takes a lot of people to run a nuclear reactor, from the operators to the engineers, the security to the maintenance. All the people are important to the running of the plant. Nuclear reactors are very controversial, despite their efficient nature. One reason for the controversy is the nuclear waste. The spent fuel rods are highly radioactive and still very hot. It is very hard to find containers that will last long enough for the rods to break down to a stable isotope. New research developments are in containers that can withstand the radiation of the rods. One example is the new dome over Chernobyl. The dome is projected to stand at least 100 years. It will cover the emergency shield and buy time for researcher to find a new way to hold the radiation, and in the future, the spent fuel rods of nuclear reactors.
This topic is very similar to mine because it’s all about using nuclear chemistry to generate electricity. The only different is that my research is base on using fusion to generate electricity rather then fission. Throughout this topic I learn that fusion reaction release more energy then fission reaction so I was wondering, which of these two ways generate more electricity? What is the byproduct from the fission reaction to product electricity?
ReplyDeleteDo you believe that nuclear energy is a path of alternative energy that society as a whole should consider taking? Or do you think biofuels and other more sustainable and safer options are better, even if they do require much more funding and research before they can be applicable?
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