How do electric Nuclear power plants produce electricity?

Question

need fast very important

Answer 1

Quick run down:

They use the head of a nuclear reaction to turnw ater into steam. The steam is under a great deal of pressure which is then used to spin turbines that produce electricity.

Long answer:

The key components common to most types of nuclear power plants are:

* Nuclear fuel
* Neutron moderator
* Coolant
* Control rods
* Pressure vessel
* Emergency Core Cooling Systems (ECCS)
* Reactor Protective System (RPS)
* Steam generators (not in BWRs)
* Containment building
* Boiler feedwater pump
* Steam turbine
* Electrical generator
* Condenser

Conventional thermal power plants all have a fuel source to provide heat. Examples are gas, coal, or oil. For a nuclear power plant, this heat is provided by nuclear fission inside the nuclear reactor. When a relatively large fissile atomic nucleus (usually uranium-235 or plutonium-239) is struck by a neutron it forms two or more smaller nuclei as fission products, releasing energy and neutrons in a process called nuclear fission. The neutrons then trigger further fission. And so on. When this nuclear chain reaction is controlled, the energy released can be used to heat water, produce steam and drive a turbine that generates electricity. It should be noted that a nuclear explosive involves an uncontrolled chain reaction, and the rate of fission in a reactor is not capable of reaching sufficient levels to trigger a nuclear explosion (even if the fission reactions increased to a point of being out of control, it would melt the reactor assembly rather than form a nuclear explosion). Enriched uranium is uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased from that of uranium found in nature. Natural uranium is only 0.72% uranium-235, with the rest being mostly uranium-238 (99.2745%) and a tiny fraction is uranium-234 (0.0055%).

Answer 2

Nucleur fission.

A special isotope of Uranium is split into two lighter elements when a neutron strikes the nucleus of the Uranium atom. The sum of the masses of the two lighter elements is not equal to the original mass of the Uranium atom however. The mass lost is converted into energy. The energy escapes as heat and electromagnetic radiation. The heat is used to boil water, which flows down pipes and heats another water reservoir. This second reservoir then generates steam, which turns a turbine which turns the rotor of an electric generator. Because of something known as entropy, energy is always lost when it passes from heat energy to mechanical energy to electrical energy. However, nucleur fission generates so much heat energy, the process is economically feasable. Ordinary power plants burn coal to generate electricity. This is possible economically viable because there is so much coal in the world.

The advantages of nucleur power is that a pound or Uranium can generate the same amount of heat as hundreds of tons of coal. The disadvantages of nucleur fuel is that it is highly radioactive and very dangerous if not tightly contained and regulated. When Uranium splits, it also generates neutrons which can then split other uranium atoms. This generates more heat and more neutrons. To avoid overheating, neutron absorbing material must be placed between the pieces of Uranium, limiting the neutron and heat production. The water surrounding the Uranium is also very radioactive and must be isolated at all times.

The Russian Chernobyl accident involved the shielding breaking down between the pieces of Uranium. A massive amount of heat then built up and the reactor container exploded. The American Three Mile Island accident resulted from radioactive water from the reactor container escaping into the atmosphere as steam.

Answer 3

Heat from the nuclear fuel heats turns water to steam. The steam turns the generators to make electricity.

Answer 4

In a nuclear fission reactor, A free electron is introduced, and splits an atom (usually hydrogen) in half. That releases more electrons, which break apart other atoms. The electrons contained in those atoms break apart other atoms, etc. If you have a steady supply of hydrogen that can go on forever. Give me a few minutes and I'll add a link to a video that will illustrate what I have talked about.

This isn't a really good video, it's just a cheap animation, but it illustrates well enough what I've talked about.
http://library.thinkquest.org/17940/texts/fission/fission.html

Answer 5

most use nuclear energy to generate heat to heat water to drive turbines with steam

Answer 6

nucular-ly