The following questions are about the nuclear reactor of a power plant.
(a) Which isotope of uranium produces the energy in the fuel rods?
(b) Will the fuel rods last forever?
(c) Is the energy produced by nuclear fission or nuclear fusion greater?
(d) What is the purpose of using the graphite moderator?
(e) What is the function of boron rods in the nuclear reactor?
(f) Why is liquid sodium (or carbon dioxide gas) pumped through the reactor?
The following questions are about the nuclear reactor of a power plant.
(a) Which isotope of uranium produces the energy in the fuel rods?
(b) Will the fuel rods last forever?
(c) Is the energy produced by nuclear fission or nuclear fusion greater?
(d) What is the purpose of using the graphite moderator?
(e) What is the function of boron rods in the nuclear reactor?
(f) Why is liquid sodium (or carbon dioxide gas) pumped through the reactor?
(a) Uranium-235 is an isotope of uranium that produces energy in the fuel rods. It is fissile and can sustain a fission chain reaction.
(b) They won’t be radioactive and last forever, They will eventually decay and get reduced to a non-radioactive state. However, in the case of uranium, it would mean a timeline of hundreds of thousands of years to billions of years depending on which isotope of Uranium is used.
(c)
- Nuclear fusion and nuclear fission are different types of reactions that release energy due to the presence of a high-powered atomic bond between particles found within a nucleus.
- In fission, an atom is split into two or more smaller, lighter atoms.
- Fusion, in contrast, occurs when two or smaller atoms fuse together, creating a larger, heavier atom.
- The energy released by fusion is three to four times greater than the energy released by fission.
(d) In nuclear engineering, a neutron moderator is a medium that reduces the speed of fast neutrons, thereby turning them into thermal neutrons capable of sustaining a nuclear chain reaction involving uranium-235 or a similar fissile nuclide.
(e) In nuclear reactors nuclear energy is generated under the controlled fission process of uranium. The process involves breaking up heavier U atoms into two lighter elements, the release of 2–3 neutrons and energy. Excess neutrons produced in the process will hit another atom of U and the process, which is a chain reaction thus goes on continuing within the core of the reactor. If all the neutrons produced in the process are used in the fission process an enormous amount of energy and pressure is built up within the reactor in a short span of time which will destabilize the reactor system and ultimately the reactor core will burst which will cause devastating the environment by release of gaseous fission products info the atmosphere. So in order to control the rate of chain reaction some mechanism is required. I.e to control the numbers or availability of neutrons optimum in the process I.e 1:1 ratio atom: neutrons the excess neutrons are to be removed from the reactor core. It can not be possible to siphon out the excess neutrons from the reactor while a nuclear chain reaction is going on in a closed system. The only way is to remove the excess neutrons through some elements which possess strong neutrons absorption capacity. One such element is boron which has a larger neutrons absorption capacity. By regulating the movement or insertion of boron rods into the reactor core, while the fission process is in progress, the excess neutrons produced during the chain reaction are absorbed by boron which will regulate the availability of neutrons to sustain the nuclear chain reaction and constant accumulation of heat in the reactor core, which is subsequently removed to the turbine circuit. If the reactor needs any maintenance to shout down the reactor, boron rods also called controlled rods in the nuclear industry are inserted to stop the nuclear chain reaction
Control rods are used in nuclear reactors to control the fission rate of uranium and plutonium. They are composed of chemical elements such as boron, silver, indium, and cadmium that are capable of absorbing many neutrons without themselves fissioning.
(f) The high thermal conductivity properties effectively create a reservoir of heat capacity which provides thermal inertia against overheating. Water is difficult to use as a coolant for a fast reactor because water acts as a neutron moderator that slows the fast neutrons into thermal neutrons.
(a) Uranium-235 is an isotope of uranium that produces energy in the fuel rods. It is fissile and can sustain a fission chain reaction.
(b) They won’t be radioactive and last forever, They will eventually decay and get reduced to a non-radioactive state. However, in the case of uranium, it would mean a timeline of hundreds of thousands of years to billions of years depending on which isotope of Uranium is used.
(c)
- Nuclear fusion and nuclear fission are different types of reactions that release energy due to the presence of a high-powered atomic bond between particles found within a nucleus.
- In fission, an atom is split into two or more smaller, lighter atoms.
- Fusion, in contrast, occurs when two or smaller atoms fuse together, creating a larger, heavier atom.
- The energy released by fusion is three to four times greater than the energy released by fission.
(d) In nuclear engineering, a neutron moderator is a medium that reduces the speed of fast neutrons, thereby turning them into thermal neutrons capable of sustaining a nuclear chain reaction involving uranium-235 or a similar fissile nuclide.
(e) In nuclear reactors nuclear energy is generated under the controlled fission process of uranium. The process involves breaking up heavier U atoms into two lighter elements, the release of 2–3 neutrons and energy. Excess neutrons produced in the process will hit another atom of U and the process, which is a chain reaction thus goes on continuing within the core of the reactor. If all the neutrons produced in the process are used in the fission process an enormous amount of energy and pressure is built up within the reactor in a short span of time which will destabilize the reactor system and ultimately the reactor core will burst which will cause devastating the environment by release of gaseous fission products info the atmosphere. So in order to control the rate of chain reaction some mechanism is required. I.e to control the numbers or availability of neutrons optimum in the process I.e 1:1 ratio atom: neutrons the excess neutrons are to be removed from the reactor core. It can not be possible to siphon out the excess neutrons from the reactor while a nuclear chain reaction is going on in a closed system. The only way is to remove the excess neutrons through some elements which possess strong neutrons absorption capacity. One such element is boron which has a larger neutrons absorption capacity. By regulating the movement or insertion of boron rods into the reactor core, while the fission process is in progress, the excess neutrons produced during the chain reaction are absorbed by boron which will regulate the availability of neutrons to sustain the nuclear chain reaction and constant accumulation of heat in the reactor core, which is subsequently removed to the turbine circuit. If the reactor needs any maintenance to shout down the reactor, boron rods also called controlled rods in the nuclear industry are inserted to stop the nuclear chain reaction
Control rods are used in nuclear reactors to control the fission rate of uranium and plutonium. They are composed of chemical elements such as boron, silver, indium, and cadmium that are capable of absorbing many neutrons without themselves fissioning.
(f) The high thermal conductivity properties effectively create a reservoir of heat capacity which provides thermal inertia against overheating. Water is difficult to use as a coolant for a fast reactor because water acts as a neutron moderator that slows the fast neutrons into thermal neutrons.
