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NUCLEAR HISTORY
The pursuit of nuclear energy for electricity generation began soon after the
discovery in the early 20th century that radioactive elements, such as radium,
released immense amounts of energy, according to the principle of mass–energy
equivalence. However, means of harnessing such energy was impractical, because
intensely radioactive elements were, by their very nature, short-lived (high energy
release is correlated with short half-lives). However, the dream of harnessing
"atomic energy" was quite strong; even it was dismissed by such fathers of nuclear
physics like Ernest Rutherford as "moonshine." This situation, however, changed
in the late 1930s, with the discovery of nuclear fission. In 1932, James Chadwick
discovered the neutron, which was immediately recognizedas a potential tool for
nuclear experimentation because of its lack of an electric charge. Ex- perimentation
with bombardment of materials with neutrons led Frédéric and Irène Joliot-Curie to
discover induced radioactivity in 1934, which allowed the creation of radium-like
elements at much less the price of natural radium. Further work by Enrico Fermi in
the 1930sfocused on using slow neutrons to increase the effectiveness of induced
radioactivity. Experiments bombarding uranium with neutrons led Fermi to believe
he had created a new, transuranic element, which he dubbed Hesperium. But in
1938, German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann, along with

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Austrian physicist Lise Meitner and Meitner's nephew, Otto Robert Frisch,
conducted experiments with the products of neutron-bombarded uranium, as a
means of further investigating Fermi's claims. They determined that the relatively
tiny neutron split the nucleus of the massive uranium atoms into two roughly equal
pieces, contradicting Fermi. This was an extremely surprising result: all other
forms of nuclear decay involved only small changes to the mass of then ucleus,
whereas this process—dubbed "fission" as a reference to biology—involved a
com- plete rupture of the nucleus. Numerous scientists, including Leo Szilard, who
was one of the first, recognized that if fission reactions released additional
neutrons, a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction could result. Once this was
experimentally confirmed and announced by Frédéric Joliot-Curie in 1939,
scientists in many countries (including the United States, the United Kingdom,
France, Germany, and the Soviet Union) petitioned their governments for support
of nuclear fission research, just on the cusp of World War II. In the United States,
where Fermi and Szilard had both emigrated, this led to the creation of the first
man-made reactor, known as Chicago Pile-1, which achieved criticality on
December 2, 1942. This work became part of the Manhattan Project, which built
large reactors at the Hanford Site (formerly the town of Hanford, Washington) to
breed plutonium for use in the first nuclear weapons, which were used on the cities
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A parallel uranium enrichment effort also was
pursued. After World War II, the prospects of using "atomic energy" for good,
rather than simply for war, were greatly advocated as a reason not to keep all
nuclear research controlled by military organizations. However, most scientists
agreed that civilian nuclear power would take at least a decade to master, and the
fact that nuclear reactors also produced weapons-usable plutonium created a
situation in which most national governments (such as those in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Canada, and the USSR) attempted to keep reactor re-search
under strict government control and classification. In the United States, reactor re-
search was conducted by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, primarily at Oak
Ridge, Tennessee, Hanford Site, and Argonne National Laboratory. Work in the
United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and USSR proceeded over the course of
the late 1940s and early 1950s. Electricity was generated for the first time by a nu-
clear reactor on December 20, 1951, at the EBR-I experimental station near Arco,
Idaho,which initially produced about 100 kW. Work was also strongly researched
in the US on nu-clear marine propulsion, with a test reactor being developed by
1953. (Eventually, the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, would
launch in 1955) In 1953, US President Dwight Eisenhower gave his "Atoms for
Peace" speech at the United Nations, emphasizing the need to develop "peaceful"
uses of nuclear power quickly. This was followed by the 1954Amendments to the
Atomic Energy Act which allowed rapid declassification of U.S.
reactor technology and encouraged development by the private sector.

Nuclear Fusion
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fusion
is the process by which multiple atomic nuclei join together to form a single
heavier nucleus. It is accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities
of energy. Large scale fusion processes, involving many atoms fusing at once, must
occur in matter at very high densities. The fusion of two nuclei with lower mass
than iron (which, along with nickel, has the largest binding energy per nucleon)
generally releases energy while the fusion of nuclei heavier than iron absorbs
energy; vice-versa for the reverse process, nuclear fission. In the simplest case of
hydrogen fusion, two protons have to be brought close enough for the weak force
to convert either of the identical protons into a neutron forming deuterium. In more
complex cases of heavy ion fusion involving many nucleons, the reaction
mechanism is different, but we achieve the same result of assembling larger nuclei
from smaller nuclei. Fusion reactions power the stars and produce virtually all
elements in a process called nucleo-synthesis. Although the fusion of lighter
elements in stars releases energy, production of elements heavier than iron absorbs
energy. When the fusion reaction is a sustained uncontrolled chain, it can result in
a thermonuclear explosion, such as that generated by a hydrogen bomb. Non-self
sustaining reactions can still release considerable energy, as well as large numbers
of neutrons. It takes considerable energy to force nuclei to fuse, even those of the
lightest element, hydrogen. This is because all nuclei have a positive charge (due to
their protons), and as like charges repel, nuclei strongly resist being put too close
together. Accelerated to high speeds (that is, heated to thermonuclear
temperatures), they can overcome this electromagnetic repulsion and get close
enough for the attractive nuclear force to be sufficiently strong to achieve fusion.
The fusion of lighter nuclei, which creates a heavier nucleus and a free neutron,
generally releases more energy than it takes to force the nuclei together; this is an
exothermic process that can produce self-sustaining reactions. The National
Ignition Facility, which uses laser-driven inertial confinement fusion, is thought to
be capable of break-even fusion. The first large-scale laser target experiments were
performed in June 2009 and ignition experiments will begin in 2010.The energy
released in most nuclear reactions is much larger than that in chemical reactions,
because the binding energy that holds a nucleus together is far greater than the
energy that holds electrons to a nucleus. For example, the ionization energy gained
by adding an electron to a hydrogen nucleus is 13.6 eV—less than one-millionth of
the 17 MeV released in the deuterium–tritium (D–T) reaction shown in the diagram
to the right. Fusion reactions have an energy density many times greater than
nuclear fission; the reactions produce far greater energies per unit of mass even
though individual fission reactions are generally much more energetic than
individual fusion ones, which are themselves millions of times more energetic than
chemical reactions. Only direct conversion of mass into energy, such as that caused
by the collision of matter and antimatter, is more energetic per unit of mass than
nuclear fusion.

Production Methods
A variety of methods are known to effect nuclear fusion. Some are "cold" in the
strict sense that no part of the material is hot (except for the reaction products),
some are "cold" in the limited sense that the bulk of the material is at a relatively
low temperature and pressure but the reactants are not, and some are "hot" fusion
methods that create macroscopic regions of very high temperature and pressure.

Muon-catalyzed fusion
Muon-catalyzed fusion is a well established and reproducible fusion process that
occurs at ordinary temperatures. It was studied in detail by Steven Jones in the
early 1980s. It has not been reported to produce net energy. Net energy production
from this reaction cannot occur because of the energy required to create muons,
their 2.2 μs half-life, and the chance that a muon will bind to the new alpha particle
and thus stop catalyzing fusion.

Generally cold, locally hot fusion

Accelerator-based light-ion fusion is a technique using particle accelerators to
achieve particle kinetic energies sufficient to induce light-ion fusion reactions.
Accelerating light ions is relatively easy, and can be done in an efficient manner—
all it takes is a vacuum tube, a pair of electrodes, and a high-voltage transformer;
fusion can be observed with as little as 10 kV between electrodes. The key problem
with accelerator-based fusion (and with cold targets in general) is that fusion cross
sections are many orders of magnitude lower than Coulomb interaction cross
sections. Therefore the vast majority of ions end up expending their energy
on bremsstrahlung and ionization of atoms of the target. Devices referred to as
sealed-tube neutron generators are particularly relevant to this discussion. These
small devices are miniature particle accelerators filled with deuterium and tritium
gas in an arrangement that allows ions of these nuclei to be accelerated against
hydride targets, also containing deuterium and tritium, where fusion takes place.
Hundreds of neutron generators are produced annually for use in the petroleum
industry where they are used in measurement equipment for locating and mapping
oil reserves. Despite periodic reports in the popular press by scientists claiming to
have invented "tabletop" fusion machines, neutron generators have been around for
half a century.
The sizes of these devices vary but the smallest instruments are often packaged in
sizes smaller than a loaf of bread. These devices do not produce a net power
output.

Hot fusion
In hot fusion, the fuel reaches tremendous temperature and pressure inside a fusion
reactor or nuclear weapon (or star). The methods in the second group are

examples of non-equilibrium systems, in which very high temperatures

and pressures are produced in a relatively small region adjacent to material

of much lower temperature. In his doctoral thesis for MIT, Todd Rider did

a theoretical study of all quasi-neutral, isotropic, non-equilibrium fusion

systems. He demonstrated that all such systems will leak energy at a rapid

rate due to bremsstrahlung produced when electrons in the plasma hit

other electrons or ions at a cooler temperature and suddenly decelerate.

The problem is not as pronounced in hot plasma because the range of

temperatures, and thus the magnitude of the deceleration, is much lower.

Note that Rider's work does not apply to non-neutral and/or anisotropic

non-equilibrium plasmas.

Nuclear Fission
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission
Is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts
(lighter nuclei), often producing free neutrons and photons (in the form of gamma
rays), as well. Fission of heavy elements is an exothermic reaction which can
release large amounts of energy both as electromagnetic radiation and as kinetic
energy of the fragments (heating the bulk material where fission takes place). For
fission to produce energy, the total binding energy of the resulting elements has
to be lower than that of the starting element. Fission is a form of nuclear
transmutation because the resulting fragments are not the same element as the
original atom. Nuclear fission produces energy for nuclear power and to drive the
explosion of nuclear weapons. Both uses are made possible because certain
substances called nuclear fuels undergo fission when struck by free neutrons and in
turn generate neutrons when they break apart. This makes possible a self-sustaining
chain reaction that releases energy at a controlled rate in a nuclear reactor or at a
very rapid uncontrolled rate in a nuclear weapon. The amount of free energy
contained in nuclear fuel is millions of times the amount of free energy contained
in a similar mass of chemical fuel such as gasoline, making nuclear fission a very
tempting source of energy. The products of nuclear fission, however, are on aver-
age far more radioactive than the heavy elements which are normally fissioned as
fuel, and remain so for significant amounts of time, giving rise to a nuclear waste
problem. Concerns over nuclear waste accumulation and over the destructive
potential of nuclear weapons may counterbalance the desirable qualities of fission
as an energy source, and give rise to ongoing political debate over nuclear power.

Mechanics
Nuclear fission can occur without neutron bombardment as a type of radioactive
decay. This type of fission (called spontaneous fission) is rare except in a few
heavy isotopes. In engineered nuclear devices, essentially all nuclear fission occurs
as a "nuclear reaction" — a bombardment-driven process that results from the
collision of two subatomic particles. In nu-clear reactions, a subatomic particle
collides with an atomic nucleus and causes changes to it. Nuclear reactions are thus
driven by the mechanics of bombardment, not by the relatively constant
exponential decay and half-life characteristic of spontaneous radioactive processes.
A great amount of nuclear reactions are known. Nuclear fission differs importantly
from other types of nuclear reactions in that it can be amplified and sometimes
controlled via a nuclear chain reaction. In such a reaction, free neutrons released by
each fission event can trigger yet more events, which in turn release more neutrons
and cause more fissions. The chemical element isotopes that can sustain a fission
chain reaction are called nu-clear fuels, and are said to be fissile. The most
common nuclear fuels are 235U (the isotope of uranium with an atomic mass of
235 and of use in nuclear reactors) and 239Pu (the isotope of plutonium with an
atomic mass of 239). These fuels break apart into a bimodal range of chemical
elements with atomic masses centring near 95 and 135 u (fission products). Most
nuclear fuels undergo spontaneous fission only very slowly, decaying instead
mainly via an alpha/beta decay chain over periods of millennia to eons. In a
nuclear reactor or nuclear weapon, the overwhelming majority of fission events are
induced by bombardment with an-other particle, a neutron, which is itself produced
by prior fission events.

Energitics
Typical fission events release about two hundred million eV (200 MeV) of energy
for each fission event. By contrast, most chemical oxidation reactions (such as
burning coal or TNT) release at most a few eV per event, so nuclear fuel contains
at least ten million times more usable energy per unit mass than does chemical
fuel. The energy of nuclear fission is released as kinetic energy of the fission
products and fragments, and as electromagnetic radiation in the form of gamma
rays; in a nuclear reactor, the energy is converted to heat as the particles and
gamma rays collide with the atoms that make up the reactor and its working flu-id,
usually water or occasionally heavy water. When a uranium nucleus fissions into
two daughter nuclei fragments, an energy of ~200 MeV is released. For uranium-
235 (total mean fission energy 202.5 MeV), typically~169 MeV appears as the
kinetic energy of the daughter nuclei, which fly apart at about 3%of the speed of
light, due to Coulomb repulsion. Also, an average of 2.5 neutrons are emitted with
a kinetic energy of ~2 MeV each (total of 4.8 MeV). The fission reaction also
releases~7 MeV in prompt gamma ray photons. The latter figure means that a
nuclear explosion or criticality accident emits about 3.5% of its energy as gamma
rays, less than 2.5% of its energy as fast neutrons, and the rest as kinetic energy of
fission fragments ("heat"). In an atomic bomb, this heat may serve to raise the
temperature of the bomb core to 100 million kelvin and cause secondary emission
of soft X-rays, which convert some of this energy to ionizing radiation. However,
in nuclear reactors, the fission fragment kinetic energy remains as low-temperature
heat which causes little or no ionization. The total prompt fission energy amounts
to about 181 MeV or ~ 89% of the total energy. The remaining ~11% is released in
beta decays which have various half-lives, but begin as a process in the fission
products immediately; and in delayed gamma emissions associated with these beta
decays. For example, in uranium-235 this delayed energy is divided into about 6.5
MeV in betas, 8.8 MeV in antineutrinos (released at the same time as the
betas),and finally, an additional 6.3 MeV in delayed gamma emission from the
excited beta-decay products (for a mean total of ~10 gamma ray emissions per
fission, in all). The 8.8 MeV/202.5 MeV = 4.3% of the energy which is released as
antineutrinos is not captured by the reactor material as heat, and escapes directly
through all materials (including the Earth) at nearly the speed of light, and into
interplanetary space. Almost all of the remaining radiation is converted to heat,
either in the reactor core or it’s shielding.
Product Nuclei and Binding Energy
In fission there is a preference to yield fragments with even proton numbers, which
is called the odd-even effect on the fragments charge distribution. However, no
odd-even effect is observed on fragment mass number distribution. This result is
attributed to nucleon pair breaking. In nuclear fission events the nuclei may break
into any combination of lighter nuclei, but the most common event is not fission to
equal mass nuclei of about mass 120; the most common event (depending on
isotope and process) is a slightly unequal fission in which one daughter nucleus has
a mass of about 90 to 100 u and the other the remaining 130 to 140 u.
Unequal fissions are energetically more favourable because this allows one product
to be closer to the energetic minimum near mass 60 u (only a quarter of the average
fissionable mass), while the other nucleus with mass 135 u is still not far out of the
range of the most tightly bound nuclei (another statement of this, is that the atomic
binding energy curve is slightly steeper to the left of mass 120 u than to the right of
it).

Chain Reaction
Several heavy elements, such as uranium, thorium, and plutonium, undergo both
spontaneous fission, a form of radioactive decay and induced fission, a form of
nuclear reaction. Elemental isotopes that undergo induced fission when struck by a
free neutron are called fissionable; isotopes that undergo fission when struck by a
thermal, slow moving neutron are also called fissile.

A few particularly fissile and readily obtainable isotopes (notably 235U and
239Pu) are called nuclear fuels because they can sustain a chain reaction and can
be obtained in large enough quantities to be useful. All fissionable and fissile
isotopes undergo a small amount of spontaneous fission which releases a few free
neutrons into any sample of nuclear fuel. Such neutrons would escape rapidly from
the fuel and become a free neutron, with a mean lifetime of about 15minutes before
decaying to protons and beta particles. However, neutrons almost invariably impact
and are absorbed by other nuclei in the vicinity long before this happens (newly-
created fission neutrons move at about 7% of the speed of light, and even
moderated neutrons move at about 8 times the speed of sound). Some neutrons will
impact fuel nuclei and induce further fissions, releasing yet more neutrons. If
enough nuclear fuel is assembled in one place, or if the escaping neutrons are
sufficiently contained, then these freshly generated neutrons outnumber the
neutrons that escape from the assembly, and a sustained nuclear chain reaction
will take place. An assembly that supports a sustained nuclear chain reaction is
called a critical assembly or, if the assembly is almost entirely made of a nuclear
fuel, a critical mass. The word "critical" refers to a cusp in the behaviour of the
differential equation that governs the number of free neutrons present in the fuel: if
less than a critical mass is present, then the amount of neutrons is determined by
radioactive decay, but if a critical mass or more is present, then the amount of
neutrons is controlled instead by the physics of the chain reaction. The actual mass
of a critical mass of nuclear fuel depends strongly on the geometry and
surrounding materials. Not all fissionable isotopes can sustain a chain reaction. For
example, 238U, the most abundant form of uranium, is fissionable but not fissile: it
undergoes induced fission when impacted by an energetic neutron with over 1
MeV of kinetic energy. But too few of the neutrons produced by 238U fission are
energetic enough to induce further fissions in 238U, so no chain reaction is
possible with this isotope. Instead, bombarding 238U with slow neutrons causes it
to absorb them (becoming 239U) and decay by beta emission to 239Np which then
decays again by the same process to 239Pu; that process is used to manufacture
239Pu in breeder reactors. In-situ plutonium production also contributes to the
neutron chain reaction in other types of reactors after sufficient plutonium-239 has
been produced, since plutonium-239 is also a fissile element which serves as fuel.
It is estimated that up to half of the power produced by a standard "non-breeder"
reactor is produced by the fission of plutonium-239 produced in place, over the
total life-cycle of a fuel load. Fissionable, non-fissile isotopes can be used as
fission energy source even without a chain reaction. Bombarding 238U with fast
neutrons induces fissions, releasing energy as long as the external neutron source is
present. This is an important effect in all reactors where fast neutrons from the
fissile isotope can cause the fission of nearby 238U nuclei, which means that some
small part of the 238U is "burned-up" in all nuclear fuels, especially in fast breeder
reactors that operate with higher-energy neutrons. That same fast-fission effect is
used to augment the energy released by modern thermonuclear weapons, by
jacketing the weapon with 238U to react with neutrons released by nuclear fusion
at the centre of the device.

Nuclear Reactors
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate, and control, a sustained nuclear chain
reaction. The most common use of nuclear reactors is for the generation of
electrical power and for the power in some ships. This is usually accomplished by
methods that involve using heat from the nuclear reaction to power steam turbines.
There are also other less common uses as discussed below.

How It Works
Just as conventional power stations generate electricity by harnessing the thermal
energy released from burning fossil fuels, nuclear reactors convert the thermal
energy released from nuclear fission.
Fission
When a large fissile atomic nucleus such as uranium-235 or plutonium-239 absorbs
a neutron, it may undergo nuclear fission. The heavy nucleus splits into two or
more lighter nuclei, releasing kinetic energy, gamma radiation and free neutrons;
collectively known as fission products.
A portion of these neutrons may later be absorbed by other fissile atomsand trigger
further fission events, which release more neutrons, and so on. This is known as a
nuclear chain reaction. The reaction can be controlled by using neutron poisons,
which absorb excess neutrons; and neutron moderators which reduces the velocity
of fast neutrons, thereby turning them into thermal neutrons, which are more likely
to be absorbed by other nuclei. Increasing or decreasing the rate of fission has a
corresponding effect on the energy output of the reactor.
Commonly used moderators include regular (light) water (75% of the world's
reactors) solid graphite (20% of reactors) and heavy water (5% of reactors).
Beryllium has also been used in some experimental types, and hydrocarbons have
been suggested as another possibility.

Heat Generation
The reactor core generates heat in a number of ways:
  The kinetic energy of fission products is converted to thermal energy when
these nuclei collide with nearby atoms.
 Some of the gamma rays produced during fission are absorbed by the
reactor, their energy being converted to heat.
 Heat produced by the radioactive decay of fission products and materials
that have been activated by neutron absorption. This decay heat source will
remain for sometime even after the reactor is shutdown.
 A kilogram of uranium-235 (U-235) converted via nuclear processes
contains approximately three million times the energy of a kilogram of coal
burned conventionally (7.2 × 1013 Joules per kilogram of uranium-235
versus 2.4 × 107 Joules per kilogram of coal).

Cooling
A nuclear reactor coolant — usually water but sometimes a gas or a liquid metal or
molten salt — is circulated past the reactor core to absorb the heat that it generates.
The heat is carried away from the reactor and is then used to generate steam. Most
reactor systems employ a cooling system that is physically separated from the
water that will be boiled to produce pressurized steam for the turbines, like the
pressurized water reactor. But in some reactors the water for the steam turbines is
boiled directly by the reactor core, for example the boiling water reactor.

Reactivity Control
The power output of the reactor is controlled by controlling how many neutrons are
able to create more fissions. Control rods that are made of a nuclear poison are
used to absorb neutrons. Absorbing more neutrons in a control rod means that there
are fewer neutrons available to cause fission, so pushing the control rod deeper into
the reactor will reduce its power output, and extracting the control rod will increase
it. In some reactors, the coolant also acts as a neutron moderator. A moderator
increases the power of the reactor by causing the fast neutrons that are released
from fission to lose energy and become thermal neutrons. Thermal neutrons are
more likely than fast neutrons to cause fission, so more neutron moderation means
more power output from the reactors. If the coolant is a moderator, then
temperature changes can affect the density of the coolant/moderator and therefore
change power output. A higher temperature coolant would be less dense, and
therefore a less effective moderator.
In other reactors the coolant acts as a poison by absorbing neutrons in the same
way that the control rods do. In these reactors power output can be increased by
heating the cool-ant, which makes it a less dense poison. Nuclear reactors
generally have automatic and manual systems to insert large amounts of poison
(often boron in the form of boric acid) into the reactor to shut the fission reaction
down if unsafe conditions are detected or anticipated.

Electrical Power Generation

The energy released in the fission process generates heat, some of which can be
converted into usable energy. A common method of harnessing this thermal energy
is to use it to boil water to produce pressurized steam which will then drive a steam
turbine that generates electricity.
Components in a Nuclear Reactor

Nuclear Fuel
Nuclear fuel is a material that can be consumed to derive nuclear energy, by
analogy to chemical fuel that is burned for energy. Nuclear fuels are the densest
sources of energy available. Nuclear fuel in a nuclear fuel cycle can refer to the
fuel itself, or to physical objects (for example bundles composed of fuel rods)
composed of the fuel material, mixed with structural, neutron moderating, or
neutron reflecting materials. Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile elements that
can be made to undergo a nuclear fission reaction in a nuclear reactor. The most
common fissile nuclear fuels are 235U and 239Pu.
The actions of mining, refining, purifying, using, and ultimately disposing of these
elements together make up the nuclear fuel cycle. Not all nuclear fuels are used in
fission reactors. Plutonium-238 and some other elements are used to produce small
amounts of nuclear power by radioactive decay in radioisotope thermoelectric
generators and other atomic. Light nuclides such as 3H (tritium) are used as fuel for
nuclear fusion.

Nuclear Reactor Core

The nuclear reactor core (also referred to as the "reactor core” or the "core") is the
region within a nuclear reactor where the nuclear fuel assemblies are located and
the nuclear reaction consequently takes place.
 Water-Moderated Reactors
 Graphite Moderated Reactors
Neutron Moderator
In nuclear engineering, a neutron moderator is a medium which reduces the speed
of fast neutrons, thereby turning them into thermal neutrons capable of sustaining a
nuclear chain reaction involvinguranium-235. Commonly used moderators include
regular (light) water (roughly 75% of the world's reactors), solid graphite (20% of
reactors) and heavy water (5% of reactors). Beryllium has also been used in some
experimental types, and hydrocarbons have been suggested as another possibility.

Neutron Poison
A neutron poison (also called a 'neutron absorber' or a 'nuclear poison') is a
substance with a large neutron absorption cross-section in applications, such as
nuclear reactors, when absorbing neutrons is an undesirable effect. However
neutron-absorbing materials, also called poisons, are intentionally inserted into
some types of reactors in order to lower the high reactivity of their initial fresh fuel
load. Some of these poisons deplete as they absorb neutrons during reactor
operation, while others remain relatively constant. The capture of neutrons by
short-halftime fission products is known as reactor poisoning; neutron capture by
long-lived or stable fission products is called reactor slagging.

Coolant
A coolant is a fluid which flows through a device to prevent its overheating,
transferring the heat produced by the device to other devices that use or dissipate it.
An ideal coolant has high thermal capacity, low viscosity, is low-cost, non-toxic,
and chemically inert, neither causing nor promoting corrosion of the cooling
system. Some applications also require the coolant to be an electrical insulator.
While the term coolant is commonly used in automotive, residential and
commercial temperature-control applications, in industrial processing, heat transfer
fluid is one technical term more often used, in high temperature as well as low
temperature manufacturing applications. The coolant can either keep its phase and
stays liquid or gaseous, or can undergo a phase change, with the latent heat adding
to the cooling efficiency. The latter, when used to achieve low temperatures, is
more commonly known as refrigerant

Control Rods
A control rod is a rod made of chemical elements capable of absorbing many
neutrons without fissioning by themselves. They are used in nuclear reactors to
control the rate of fission of uranium and plutonium. Because these elements have
different capture cross sections for neutrons of varying energies, the compositions
of the control rods must be designed for the neutron spectrum of the reactor it is
supposed to control. Light water reactors (BWR, PWR) and heavy water reactors
(HWR) operate with "thermal" neutrons, whereas breeder reactors operate with
"fast" neutrons.

Reactor Vessel
In a nuclear power plant, the reactor vessel is a pressure vessel containing the
coolant and reactor core. It is a device for containing and controlling a chemical
reaction. The chemical process enables the conversion of raw material into a final
product under given pressure and temperature. During the reaction it becomes
necessary to remove excess heat in the process to order to keep the process under
control. Vessels are built to withstand high pressure in the system. Not all power
reactors have a reactor vessel. Power reactors are generally classified by the type
of coolant rather than by the configuration of the reactor vessel used to contain the
coolant.
Boiler Feed-Water Pump
A boiler feed-water pump is a specific type of pump used to pump feed water into
a steam boiler. The water may be freshly supplied or returning condensate
produced as a result of the condensation of the steam produced by the boiler. These
pumps are normally high pressure units that take suction from a condensate return
system and can be of the centrifugal pump type or positive displacement type.

Steam Generator
Steam generators are heat exchangers used to convert water into steam from
heat produced in a nuclear reactor core. They are used in pressurized between the
primary and secondary coolant loops.

Steam Turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from
pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was
invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884.It has almost completely replaced the
reciprocating piston steam engine primarily be-cause of its greater thermal
efficiency and higher power-to-weight ratio. Because the turbine generates rotary
motion, it is particularly suited to be used to drive an electrical generator – about
80% of all electricity generation in the world is by use of steam turbines. The
steam turbine is a form of heat engine that derives much of its improvement in
thermodynamic efficiency through the use of multiple stages in the expansion of
the steam, which results in a closer approach to the ideal reversible process.

Electrical Generator
In electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical
energy to electrical energy. The reverse conversion of electrical energy into
mechanical energy is done by a motor; motors and generators have many
similarities. A generator forces electrons in the windings to flow through the
external electrical. It is somewhat analogous to a water pump, which creates a flow
of water but does not create the water inside. The source of mechanical energy may
be a reciprocating or turbine steam engine, water falling through a turbine or
waterwheel, an internal combustion engine, a wind turbine, a hand crank,
compressed air or any other source of mechanical energy.

Surface Condensers
Surface condenser is the commonly used term for a water-cooled shell and tube
heat exchanger installed on the exhaust steam from a steam turbine in thermal
power stations. These condensers are heat exchangers which convert steam from its
gaseous to its liquid state at a pressure below atmospheric pressure. Where cooling
water is in short supply, an air-cooled condenser is often used. An air-cooled
condenser is however significantly more ex- pensive and cannot achieve as low a
steam turbine exhaust pressure as a water cooled surface condenser. Surface
condensers are also used in applications and industries other than the condensing
of steam turbine exhaust in power plants.

Cooling Tower
Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat tothe
atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove
process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or rely
solely on air to cool the working fluid to near the dry-bulb air temperature.
Common applications include cooling the circulating water used in oil refineries,
chemical plants, power stations and building cooling. The towers vary in size from
small roof-top units to very large hyperboloid structures (as in Image 1) that can be
up to 200 metres tall and 100 metres in diameter, or rectangular structures (as in
Image 2) that can be over 40 metres tall and 80 metres long. Smaller towers are
normally factory-built, while larger ones are constructed on site. They are often
associated with nuclear power plants in popular culture.

Spent Fuel Pool

Spent fuel pools (SFP) are storage pools for spent fuel from nuclear reactors.
Typically 40 or more feet deep, with the bottom 14 feet equipped with storage
racks designed to hold fuel assemblies removed from the reactor. These fuel pools
are specially designed at the reactor in which the fuel was used and situated at the
reactor site. In many countries, the fuel assemblies, after being in the reactor for 3
to 6 years, are stored underwater for 10 to 20 years before being sent for
reprocessing or dry cask storage. The water cools the fuel and provides shielding
from radiation. While only about 8 feet of water is needed to keep radiation levels
below acceptable levels, the extra depth provides a safety margin and allows fuel
assemblies to be manipulated without special shielding to protect the operators.

Containment Building
A containment building, in its most common usage, is a steel or reinforced concrete
structure enclosing a nuclear reactor. It is designed, in any emergency, to contain
the escape of radiation to a maximum pressure in the range of 60 to 200 psi (410 to
1400 kPa).The containment is the final barrier to radioactive release (part of a
nuclear reactor's defencei n depth strategy), the first being the fuel ceramic itself,
the second being the metal fuel clad-ding tubes, the third being the reactor vessel
and coolant system. The containment building itself is typically an airtight steel
structure enclosing the re-actor normally sealed off from the outside atmosphere.
The steel is either free-standing or attached to the concrete missile shield. In the
United States, the design and thickness of the containment and the missile shield
are governed by federal regulations (10 CFR 50.55a), and must be strong enough
to withstand the impact of a fully loaded passenger airliner without rupture.
Classification of Reactor Types

Nuclear Reactors are classified by several methods; a brief outline of these

classification schemes is provided.

Classification by Nuclear Reaction type

1. Nuclear fission. All commercial power reactors are based on nuclear fission.
They generally use uranium and its product plutonium as nuclear fuel, though a
thorium fuel cycle is also possible. Fission reactors can be divided roughly into
two classes, depending on the energy of the neutrons that sustain the fission chain
reaction:
 Thermal reactors use slowed or thermal neutrons. Almost all current reactors
are of this type. These contain moderator materials that slow neutrons until
their neutron temperature is thermalized, that is, until their kinetic energy
 approaches the average kinetic energy of the surrounding particles. Thermal
neutrons have a far higher cross section (probability) of fissioning the fissile
nucleiuranium-235, plutonium-239, and plutonium-241, and a relatively
lower probability of neutron capture by uranium-238 (U-238) compared to
the faster neutrons that originally result from fission, allowing use of low-
enriched uranium or even natural uranium fuel. The moderator is often also
the coolant, usually water under high pressure to increase the boiling point.

 Fast neutron reactors use fast neutrons to cause fission in their fuel. They do
not have a neutron moderator, and use less-moderating coolants.
Maintaining a chain reaction requires the fuel to be more highly enriched in
fissile material(about 20% or more) due to the relatively lower probability of
fission versus capture by U-238. Fast reactors have the potential to produce
less transuranic waste because all actinides are fissionable with fast
neutrons, but they are more difficult to build and more expensive to operate.
Overall, fast reactors are less common than thermal reactors in most
applications.
2. Nuclear fusion. Fusion power is an experimental technology, generally with
hydrogen as fuel. While not suitable for power production, Farnsworth-Hirsch
fusers are used to produce neutron radiation.
3. Radioactive decay. Examples include radioisotope thermoelectric generators as
well as other types of atomic batteries, which generate heat and power by
exploiting passive radioactive decay.

Classification by Moderator Material

1. Graphite moderated reactors
2. Water moderated reactors
 Heavy water reactors
  Light water moderated reactors (LWRs). Light water reactors use ordinary
water to moderate and cool the reactors. When at operating temperature, if
the temperature of the water increases, its density drops, and fewer neutrons
passing through it are slowed enough to trigger further reactions. That
negative feedback stabilizes the reaction rate. Graphite and heavy water
reactors tend to be more thoroughly thermalized than light water reactors.
Due to the extrathermalization, these types can use natural uranium/un-
enriched fuel.
3. Light element moderated reactors. These reactors are moderated by lithium or
beryllium.
 Molten salt reactors (MSRs) are moderated by a light elements such as
lithium or beryllium, which are constituents of the coolant/fuel matrix salts
LiF and BeF2.
 Liquid metal cooled reactors, such as one whose coolant is a mixture of
Lead and Bismuth, may use BeO as a moderator.
4. Organically moderated reactors (OMR) use biphenyl and terphenyl as moderator
and coolant.
Classification by Coolant
1. Water cooled reactor. There are 104 operating reactors in the United States. Of
these, 69 are pressurized water reactors (PWR), and 35 are boiling water reactors
(BWR).
1.1. Pressurized water reactor (PWR)
 A primary characteristic of PWR is a pressurizer, a specialized pressure
vessel. Most commercial PWRs and naval reactors use pressurizers. During
normal operation, a pressurizer is partially filled with water, and a steam
bubble is maintained above it by heating the water with submerged heaters.
During normal operation, the pressurizer is connected to the primary reactor
pressure vessel (RPV) and the pressurizer "bubble" provides an expansion
 space for changes in water volume in the reactor. This arrangement also
provides a means of pressure control for the reactor by increasing or
decreasing the steam pres-sure in the pressurizer using the pressurizer
heaters.

 Pressurised heavy water reactors are a subset of pressurized water reactors,

sharing the use of a pressurized, isolated heat transport loop, but using heavy
water as coolant and moderator for the greater neutroneconomies it offers.
1.2. Boiling water reactor (BWR)
BWR are characterized by boiling water around the fuel rods in the lower portion
of a primary reactor pressure vessel. A boiling water re-actor uses 235U, enriched
as uranium dioxide, as its fuel. The fuel is assembled into rods that are submerged
in water and housed in a steel vessel. The nuclear fission causes the water to boil,
generating steam. This steam is pumped through pipes into turbines. The turbines
are driven by the steam, and this process generates electricity. During normal
operation, pressure control is accomplished by controlling the amount of steam
flowing from the reactor pressure vessel to the turbine.
1.3. Pool-type reactor
2. Liquid metal cooled reactor. Since water is a moderator, it cannot be used as a
coolant in a fast reactor. Liquid metal coolants have included sodium, NaK, lead,
lead- bismuth eutectic, and in early reactors, mercury.
 Sodium-cooled fast reactor
 Lead-cooled fast reactor
3. Gas cooled reactors are cooled by a circulating inert gas, often helium in high-
temperature designs, while carbon dioxide has been used in past British and French
nuclear power plants. Nitrogen has also been used. Utilization of the heat varies,
depending on the reactor. Some reactors run hot enough that the gas can directly
power a gas turbine. Older designs usually run the gas through a heat exchanger to
make steam for a steam turbine.
4. Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs) are cooled by circulating a molten salt, typically
a eutectic mixture of fluoride salts, such as FLiBe. In a typical MSR, the coolant is
also used a matrix in which the fissile material is dissolved.