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The high temperature and intense pressure steam that result from the boiling water turn a turbine that then generates electricity.

The heat is used to raise the temperature of water, thus causing it to boil. The fuel is generally coal, but oil is also used sometimes.

A conventional power plant burns fuel to create heat. A nuclear power plant produces electricity in almost exactly the same way that a conventional (fossil fuel) power plant does. The heat released during this reaction is harvested and used to generate electrical energy. As uranium atoms continue to split, a significant amount of energy is released from the reaction. This chain reaction is the basis of nuclear power. If these released neutrons collide with nearby 235U nuclei, they can stimulate the fission of these atoms and start a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. The turbine can be used for mechanical work and to generate electricity.ĭuring the fission of 235U, three neutrons are released in addition to the two daughter atoms. Nuclear energy is produced when a fissile material, such as 235U, is concentrated such that the natural rate of radioactive decay is accelerated in a controlled chain reaction and creates heat that is used to boil water, produce steam, and drive a steam turbine. Nuclear power is the controlled use of nuclear reactions (currently limited to nuclear fission and radioactive decay) to do useful work including propulsion, heat, and the generation of electricity. This significantly complicates the design of such reactors.īalasubramanian Viswanathan, in Energy Sources, 2017 Fission to Electricity It can be produced from lithium using the high-energy neutrons in the fusion reactor so like a breeder reactor, a fusion reactor will have to be able to produce its own fuel as well as energy. There is one problem with the deuterium–tritium reaction tritium does not occur naturally and must itself be made during a nuclear reaction. In theory 1 tonne of deuterium could provide the equivalent of 3×10 10 tonnes of coal. The amount of energy available is enormous. In a fusion reactor this energy must be captured and used to generate steam for power production. It is this reaction that forms the basis for fusion research.Īs with fission, this fusion reaction releases its energy primarily as kinetic energy that is carried away by a neutron that is generated during the reaction. However, there is another fusion reaction, between deuterium and a third isotope of hydrogen called tritium, that requires less extreme conditions and these can be recreated, albeit with extreme difficulty, on our planet. The conditions required to allow this reaction to take place are considered almost impossible to recreate on the necessary scale on Earth. Under these conditions, the hydrogen atoms disintegrate to form a sea of electrons and nuclei, which are held close together by the massive gravitational force within the Sun (gravitational confinement). This reaction takes place in the center of the Sun at a temperature of 10 million to 15 million degrees celsius and under extreme pressure.

The fusion reaction that powers the Sun and stars is a reaction in which hydrogen atoms combine to produce deuterium and then deuterium and hydrogen atoms fuse to make helium with the release of energy. Nevertheless, it is generally judged much more benign, environmentally than fusion. One of the key hydrogen isotopes involved in fusion is radioactive too. The reaction is not entirely clean because very high-energy particles are generated and these will cause nuclear reactions in plant components, leaving some radioactive remnants. Moreover the fusion reaction, while producing a large amount of energy, generates less toxic waste than nuclear fission. Since the primary precursor is hydrogen, one of the most abundant elements on the earth, fusion-in principle at least-offers a limitless supply of energy. In the case of fusion, this energy is released when very light atoms are turned into slightly heavier, but more stable atoms. Nuclear fusion, like nuclear fission, can provide energy from mass. Paul Breeze, in Nuclear Power, 2017 Fusion Basics