Nuclear Power Plants: Nuclear Power Plants Nuclear reactors used to produce: Plutonium for weapons Electricity Generate electricity by producing heat to boil water Steam spins generators, which create electricity
Parts of a Nuclear Reactor Fuel Rods: Parts of a Nuclear Reactor Fuel Rods Found in reactor core Fuel pellet form 1 Uranium pellet = 1 ton of coal or 126 gal of petroleum Pellet contains UO 2 Uranium-235 is the fissionable isotope Uranium-238 doesn’t fission
Parts of a Nuclear Reactor Control Rods: Parts of a Nuclear Reactor Control Rods Found in reactor core Boron and Cadmium are used Absorb neutrons very efficiently By reducing the number of neutrons available for fission, the rate of the chain reaction can be controlled, or even stopped
Parts of a Nuclear Reactor Moderator: Parts of a Nuclear Reactor Moderator Found in reactor core Slows down high-speed neutrons More effective collisions with fuel rods are possible “Heavy Water”, “light water” and graphite are the 3 most common
Parts of a Nuclear Reactor Generator: Parts of a Nuclear Reactor Generator Fuel & control rods surrounded by circulating water Reactor either directly or indirectly boils water to produce steam Steam turns the turbines which generate the electricity
Parts of a Nuclear Reactor Cooling System: Parts of a Nuclear Reactor Cooling System Water taken from rivers, streams or lakes Cools the steam used to turn turbines Large cooling towers are used to cool the water before it returns to environment