0
Certain isotopes of some elements can undergo fission. In nature, the only substance that does this is uranium-235, which is less than 1% of all uranium.
When U-235 undergoes fission, it makes two much lighter new atoms, and three neutrons. When one of these neutrons hits an atom of U-235, it causes that atom to undergo fission, releasing three more neutrons. If there are a lot of U-235 atoms around, this reaction can go faster and faster. If it does this, it is said to have critical mass. If the reaction is allowed to continue in an uncontrolled manner, there is an explosion. If it is controlled, it can be used in a reactor. The nuclear fission reaction gives off a lot of heat because some of the mass in the atom is converted into energy. This reaction is millions of times more powerful than the oxidation of carbon.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoIn a nuclear reactor, the U-235 atoms are stored in fuel rods. Then, neutrons are fired at the nuclei, causing it to split and release energy and another neutron. That neutron hits another nucleus, splits it, and energy is released, along with another neutron...You get the picture. And all of this creates a lot of heat. This heat is used to boil water, creating an immense amount of steam. The steam turns a turbine, which runs the generator, thus, creating electricity.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoUranium causes it to heat.
Add your answer:
Earn +20 pts
In a nuclear power plant what is used to change water into steam?
Heat from the nuclear reaction changes water to steam.
How does nuclear produce energy?
Nuclear energy appears as heat (after all, if it wasn't moderated it would explode). Now you have a heat source to drive steam turbines to deliver electricity, just like a coal-fired power station.
What are some factors that make environmentalists against nuclear power stations In other words what are the major environmental effects of a nuclear power station?
Nuclear power stations use local water supplies to cool their reactors and dump a lot of ambient heat into the environment as a result. Many also have concerns about the radiation in the plant and its effects on the environment should the plant become breached and the fact that the nuclear waste produced by the plant will remain dangerous for thousands of years wherever it ends up being stored. However, it should be noted that a gram of uranium can produce the equivalent energy of tons of coal, so nuclear plants produce reliable power without burning fossil fuels.
Inside a star the force of gravity is balanced by?
If the force of gravity crushing a star in weren't balanced, it would collapse. The outward-pushing force counteracting gravity is the energy produced in nuclear fusion, when the heat and pressure inside of stars smashes atoms together.
Where is the majority of the nuclear energy that lands on Earth produced?
The Sun and other stars make heat & light by nuclear reactions. Nuclear energy is produced two different ways: In one, large nuclei are split to release energy. In the other method, small nuclei are combined to release energy.
In a nuclear power station the process that produces heat is called?
Fission is the process that produces heat in a nuclear power station
Describe the working of a thermal power station.?
1. Heat energy is produced by burning fossil fuel in a furnace or from the fission of uranium in nuclear or by hot gas in a gas-fired power station
What is a nuclear powerstation?
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station. The heat source is nuclear reactor. Its main point is to produce electricity.
What Is produced in nuclear energy in power?
Nuclear power stations collect nuclear energy, and produce heat energy and electrical energy.
Electricity is produced by using the heat produced by splitting radioactive atoms?
Nuclear Power
What is the name of nuclear reaction that is in a power station?
Nuclear fission. The combining of Plutonium and Uranium atoms releases energy, which is used to heat water. The steam produced turns turbines which generate electricity.
What is a nuclear power station?
The fissioning of uranium and plutonium nuclei releases energy as heat, which is then used to produce steam to drive conventional turbine/generators.
What is the difference between a nuclear power station and coal fired power station?
The difference is in the name; nuclear power plants produce electricity via a nuclear reaction producing head to turn a turbine, whereas coal fired power plants burn coal to produce the same efffect.
How Nuclear power station work?
A nuclear power station uses heat given off by the controlled fission of enriched uranium. The heat is used to boil water, the steam blows through the vanes of a turbine, and the turbine spins an electrical generator.
Do nuclear power plants heat up the planet?
Any power plant causes heat to be produced when the electricity is used, but nuclear plants don't produce greenhouse gases as fossil fuels do
Why are coolants used in nuclear power industries?
To transfer the heat produced in the fuel to the steam raising units.
How is electricity produced at a nuclear power plant?
Nuclear power is the use of sustained Nuclear fission to generate heat and do useful work. Heat from nuclear fission boils water to make steam, which pushes a turbine. The turbine generates electricity using a magnet through a process called electromagnetic induction.
