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The Environment Today
Published in Anco S. Blazev, Power Generation and the Environment, 2021
NOTE: The modern commercial nuclear power generating reactors use fission reaction to burn mostly uranium based nuclear fuels. Nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction, or a rapid radioactive decay process, where the nucleus of an atom splits into several lighter nuclei. This process also produces free neutrons and photons in the form of gamma rays, and releases huge amount of energy.
Modern Power Systems
Published in Dale R. Patrick, Stephen W. Fardo, Brian W. Fardo, Electrical Power Systems Technology, 2021
Dale R. Patrick, Stephen W. Fardo, Brian W. Fardo
A sustained nuclear-fission reaction is dependent upon the use of the proper type of fuel. The most desirable fuels for nuclear-fission reactions are uranium-233, uranium-235, and plutonium-239. These three nuclear materials are the only fissionable isotopes capable of producing sustained reactions. Of these nuclear fuels, the only one that occurs naturally is uranium-235. The other two isotopes are produced by artificial means. Ordinarily, nuclear reactors that use uranium-235 as a fuel are called converter reactors.
Modern Power Systems
Published in Stephen W. Fardo, Dale R. Patrick, Electrical Power Systems Technology, 2020
Stephen W. Fardo, Dale R. Patrick
A sustained nuclear fission reaction is dependent upon the use of the proper type of fuel. The most desirable fuels for nuclear fission reactions are uranium-233, uranium-235, and plutonium-239. These three nuclear materials are the only fissionable isotopes capable of producing sustained reactions. Of these nuclear fuels, the only one that occurs naturally is uranium-235. The other two isotopes are produced by artificial means. Ordinarily, nuclear reactors that use uranium-235 as a fuel are called converter reactors.
Bifurcation Analysis of Xenon Oscillations in Large Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors with Spatial Control
Published in Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2022
Abhishek Chakraborty, Suneet Singh, M. P. S. Fernando
The safe operation of nuclear reactors is one of the most challenging aspects of the nuclear power industry. It involves a number of processes involving the generation of neutrons, their specific multiplications, their control, and the extraction of useful power out of the heat energy generated in the process. In most of the operating nuclear reactors, energy is produced by chain nuclear fission of 235U. In nuclear fission, a large nucleus like 235U is broken into multiple nuclei (fission products) with release of ~200 MeV of energy on absorption of a thermal/fast neutron(s). The heat which is produced in fission has to be removed by a coolant (generally H2O, D2O for thermal reactors and Na, Pb for fast reactors). This demands an efficient coupling between the neutronics and the thermal hydraulics to ensure a smooth, streamlined generation of power.
Antimatter-Based Propulsion for Exoplanet Exploration
Published in Nuclear Technology, 2022
Nuclear fission is the process by which heavy nuclei are split into smaller nuclei. The fission of uranium nuclei yields approximately 1 MeV per nucleon, primarily in the form of kinetic energy of the fission daughters.10 For the case of depleted uranium 238U, antiproton-induced fission generates (on average) two fission daughters of atomic mass 100, with 100 MeV of kinetic energy per daughter.11–13 Note that 98% of antiprotons that stop in uranium induce fission.