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Nuclear Reactor

Applications



At the end of World War II, great hopes were expressed for the use of nuclear reactors as a way of providing power for many human energy needs. For example, some optimists envisioned the use of small nuclear reactors as power sources in airplanes, ships, and automobiles. These hopes have been realized to only a limited extent. Nuclear powered submarines, for example, have become a practical reality. But other forms of transportation seldom make use of this source of energy.



Instead, the vast majority of nuclear reactors in use today are employed in nuclear power plants where they supply the energy needed to manufacture electrical energy. In a power reactor, energy released within the reactor core is transferred by a coolant to an external building in which are housed a turbine and generator. Steam obtained from water boiled by reactor heat energy is used to drive the turbine and generator, thereby producing electrical energy.

Reactors with other functions are also in use. For example, a breeder reactor is one in which new reactor fuel is manufactured. By far the most common material in any kind of nuclear reactor is uranium-238. This isotope of uranium does not undergo fission and does not, therefore, make any direct contribution to the production of energy. But the vast numbers of neutrons produced in the reactor core do react with uranium-238 in a different way, producing plutonium-239 as a product. This plutonium-239 can then be removed from the reactor core and used as a fuel in other reactors. Reactors whose primary function it is to generate plutonium-239 are known as breeder reactors.

Research reactors may have one or both of two functions. First, such reactors are often built simply to test new design concepts for the nuclear reactor. When the test of the design element has been completed, the primary purpose of the reactor has been accomplished.

Second, research reactors can also be used to take advantage of the various forms of radiation released during fission reactions. These forms of radiation can be used to bombard a variety of materials to study the effects of the radiation on the materials.

Resources

Books

Carlisle, Rodney P. Encyclopedia of the Atomic Age. New York: Facts on File, 2001.

Croall, C., and S. Sempler. Nuclear Power for Beginners. New York: State Mutual Books, 1990.

Ebinger, Charles K. Nuclear Power: The Promise of New Technologies. Washington, DC: CSI Studies, 1991.

Jones, P. M., ed. Nuclear Power: Policy and Prospects. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1987.

Macaulay, David. The New Way Things Work. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.

Nuclear Power, Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Management, Part C: Status and Trends, 1993. Lanham, MD: UNIPUB, 1993.

Trefil, James. Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. The Reference Works, Inc., 2001.


Periodicals

"Effect Of Heating And Power Plants On The Environment." Atomic Energy 92, no. 6-6 (2002): 523-528.

David E. Newton

KEY TERMS

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Chain reaction

—An on-going process in which a neutron produced from fission enters a nearby nucleus, causes it to fission, and releases additional neutrons to continue the process.

Electron volt

—A unit for measuring energy. An electron volt is the energy gained or lost by an electron as it passes through a potential difference of one volt.

Generator

—A device for converting kinetic energy (the energy of movement) into electrical energy.

Isotopes

—Two molecules in which the number of atoms and the types of atoms are identical, but their arrangement in space is different, resulting in different chemical and physical properties.

Neutron

—A subatomic particle that carries no electrical charge and that has a mass of zero.

Nuclear fission

—A reaction in which a larger atomic nucleus breaks apart into two roughly equal smaller nuclei.

Nuclear fusion

—A reaction in which two small nuclei combine with each other to from one larger nucleus.

Turbine

—A device consisting of a series of baffles mounted on a wheel around a central shaft used to convert the energy of a moving fluid into the energy of mechanical rotation.

Additional topics

Science EncyclopediaScience & Philosophy: Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP) to Ockham's razorNuclear Reactor - Theory Of Fission Reactors, Reactor Core, Moderators, Control Rods, Reactor Types, Applications