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nuclear reactor
Table of Contents
Introduction
Principles of operation
Chain reaction and criticality
Reactor control
Fissile and fertile materials
Heat removal
Shielding
Critical concentration and size
Thermal, intermediate, and fast reactors
Reactor design and components
Core
Fuel types
Coolants and moderators
Reflectors
Reactor control elements
Structural components
Coolant system
Containment system
Containment design principles
Containment systems and major nuclear accidents
Types of reactors
Power reactors
Light-water reactors
PWRs and BWRs
Advantages and disadvantages
Fueling and refueling LWRs
Global status of LWRs
High-temperature gas-cooled reactors
Liquid-metal reactors
CANDU reactors
Advanced gas-cooled reactor
Other power reactor types
Research reactors
Water-cooled, plate-fuel reactors
TRIGA reactors
Other research reactors
Ship-propulsion reactors
Production reactors
Specialized reactors
Reactor safety
Preventive measures
Design and operating standards
The Windscale accident of 1957
The Reactor Safety Study of 1972–75
Three Mile Island and Chernobyl
Mitigating measures
Systems and structures
Fukushima
Emergency response
The nuclear fuel cycle
Uranium mining and processing
Enrichment
Fabrication
Fuel management
Unloading and cooling
Reprocessing
Reprocessing methods
Reprocessing policies
Waste disposal
Waste conditioning
Geologic disposal
Risks of nuclear waste disposal
History of reactor development
The first atomic piles
From production reactors to commercial power reactors
Growth of nuclear programs
References & Edit History
Related Topics
Images & Videos
For Students
nuclear reactor summary
Quizzes
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Related Questions
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nuclear reactor: Media
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https://www.britannica.com/technology/nuclear-reactor/images-videos
Videos
A journey through the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
A visit to the site of the Chernobyl disaster.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
How does a nuclear power plant generate electricity?
Overview of how nuclear power plants work.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Hear about the April 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power station and the catastrophe caused due to the escaping radiation
Overview of the Chernobyl disaster.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Yurii Zushchyk/stock.adobe.com
Images
Temelín Nuclear Power Plant, South Bohemia, Czech Republic
The Temelín Nuclear Power Plant, South Bohemia, Czech Republic, which went into full...
© Josef Mohyla/iStock.com
Fission
Sequence of events in the fission of a uranium nucleus by a neutron.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
chain reaction in a nuclear reactor at a critical state
Slow neutrons strike nuclei of uranium-235, causing the nuclei to fission, or split,...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
nuclear power plant at Angra dos Reis, Brazil
The Angra nuclear power plant, using pressurized-water reactors, at Angra dos Reis,...
Agencia Brasil courtesy IAEA
Cherenkov radiation
Cherenkov radiation emitted by the core of the Reed Research Reactor located at Reed...
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
nuclear reactor: basic components
The basic components of a nuclear reactor.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
reactor core
The core of a pressurized-water nuclear reactor.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
nuclear fuel assembly for a pressurized-water reactor.
Nuclear fuel rods and control rods arranged by grid spacers into a fuel assembly...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
basic power cycles in nuclear power plants
Basic power cycles in nuclear power plants(A)...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
pressurized-water reactor
Section of a pressurized-water reactor, showing inlets and outlets for water coolant...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
boiling-water reactor
Cross section of a boiling-water reactor, showing the core, the steam separator,...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
sodium-cooled liquid-metal reactor
Schematic diagram of a nuclear power plant using a pool-type sodium-cooled liquid-metal...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Canada Deuterium Uranium reactor
Schematic diagram of a nuclear power plant using a Canada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU)...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
nuclear power plant at Dungeness Point, Kent, England
Dungeness B, a nuclear power plant using an advanced gas-cooled reactor, located...
© petert2/stock.adobe.com
research reactor
A water-cooled research reactor, with graphite blocks serving as an internal reflector...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
USS
Nautilus
The nuclear-powered submarine USS
Nautilus
entering New York Harbor, 1958.
U.S. Navy photo
USS
Enterprise
USS
Enterprise
, commissioned in 1961, the first nuclear-powered aircraft...
J.E. Williams, PHC/U.S. Navy Photo
the nuclear-powered icebreaker
Lenin
The Soviet/Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker
Lenin
, launched in 1957 and...
Dmitriy Kozlov—RIA Novosti Archive, image 314495 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Three Mile Island
Aerial view of Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
John S. Zeedick—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Chernobyl nuclear power plant
A large confinement structure over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Pryp'yat, Ukraine....
© Dmitry Birin/Shutterstock.com
damage at Fukushima Daiichi power plant
Two of the damaged containment buildings at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant,...
Shutterstock.com
Fukushima accident
A man is checked for radiation exposure after having been evacuated from the quarantine...
Wally Santana/AP Images
exclusion zone: Chernobyl disaster; Fukushima accident
Map of the exclusion zones following the nuclear accidents at Chernobyl, Soviet Union...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Kenny Chmielewski
nuclear fuel cycle
A “closed loop” nuclear fuel cycle, showing the reprocessing of uranium-235 and plutonium...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
uranium-enrichment processes
Three uranium-enrichment processes.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
spent nuclear fuel rods
Spent nuclear fuel rods stored underwater at the nuclear power plant in La Hague,...
Francois Mori—AP/Shutterstock.com
Diablo Canyon Power Plant
Containers of nuclear waste stored above ground at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant,...
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
dry storage cask for spent nuclear fuel
Cutaway diagram of a dry storage cask for spent nuclear fuel, showing fuel assemblies...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
First self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction
Scientists observing the world's first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, in...
National Archives and Records Administration (ARC Identifier 542144)
Zero-Energy Experimental Pile
Cutaway drawing of the Zero-Energy Experimental Pile (ZEEP), which on September 5,...
Courtesy of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Shippingport Atomic Power Station, near Pittsburgh
The pressure vessel for the first commercial nuclear power plant in the United States...
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (file no. HAER PA,4-SHIP,1--87)
Calder Hall, Cumbria, England
The Calder Hall nuclear power station, Cumbria, England, 1956.
Topical Press Agency—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Civaux nuclear power plant, western France
The Civaux nuclear power plant, using pressurized-water reactors, near Poitiers,...
© KateD/Fotolia
Ikata nuclear power plant, Shikoku island, Japan
The Ikata nuclear power plant, employing pressurized-water reactors, located in Ehime...
Newsliner
Tianwan nuclear power plant, Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China
The Tianwan nuclear power plant, using pressurized-water reactors, in Lianyungang,...
© Craig Hanson/Shutterstock.com
VIEW MORE
in these related Britannica articles:
Media for: nuclear fission
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