Nuclear Energy II.

Basic Idea of Fission Reaction

Informative Nuclear Site

Distribution of Reactors in the US

Where the fuel is generated:

Two types of reactors:

Boiling Water:

The other common US power reactor type is the Boiling Water Reactor (BWR). As the name implies, the inner loop contains both liquid water and steam. which drives the turbines. Since this inner water will contain some radioactive material, this design can cause contamination of turbine blades. The diagram shows such a BWR.

Pressurized Water:

• 2 Mev neutrons that strike a Uranium nucleus have a fission probablility about 1000 times less than a neutron with energy = .025 ev. So neutrons need to be slowed down, on average, by a factor of 100 million !

• Slowing the Neutrons Down:

Minimizing Neutron Losses in Reactor Design is Important

• How much Uranium is left in the United States?:

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