Nuclear Reactor

Nuclear reactor technology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Nuclear reactor)

Jump to: navigation, search

Core of CROCUS, a small nuclear reactor used for research at the EPFL in Switzerland.

This article is a subarticle of Nuclear power.

A nuclear reactor is a device in which nuclear chain reactions are initiated, controlled, and sustained at a steady rate, as opposed to a nuclear bomb, in which the chain reaction occurs in a fraction of a second and is uncontrolled causing an explosion.

The most significant use of nuclear reactors is as an energy source for the generation of electrical power (see Nuclear power) and for the power in some ships (see Nuclear marine propulsion). 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.

Contents

[hide]

• 1 How it works
  • 1.1 Reactor
    • 1.1.1 Fission
    • 1.1.2 Heat Generation
    • 1.1.3 Cooling
    • 1.1.4 Reactivity control
  • 1.2 Electrical power generation
• 2 Components
• 3 The people in a nuclear power plant
• 4 Reactor types
  • 4.1 Classifications
    • 4.1.1 Classification by type of nuclear reaction
    • 4.1.2 Classification by moderator material
    • 4.1.3 Classification by coolant
    • 4.1.4 Classification by generation
    • 4.1.5 Classification by phase of fuel
    • 4.1.6 Classification by use
  • 4.2 Current technologies
  • 4.3 Future and developing technologies
    • 4.3.1 Advanced reactors
    • 4.3.2 Generation IV reactors
    • 4.3.3 Generation V+ reactors
    • 4.3.4 Fusion reactors
• 5 Nuclear fuel cycle
  • 5.1 Fueling of nuclear reactors
• 6 Safety
• 7 History - Early reactors
• 8 Natural nuclear reactors
• 9 See also
• 10 References
• 11 External links

Literature :
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia