How is uranium split in a nuclear reactor?

Sea Ranch Lakes

I know that Uranium is supposed to absorb a neutron, and that makes it imbalanced and it splits... but how do nuclear-reactor workers get Uranium to do that? In a bomb, the fire a bullet at point blank at a piece of Uranium, and that makes it react really quickly and explode. Do they do this in the reactor too but on a smaller scale?



Seven Lakes

they need an operator to startup the fission of U235 in a reactor, it is not the same as triggering a bombstep#1 decay spontaneous fission of Cf252 (generate neutrons)Cf252 ---> fission products + average 3.77nstep#2 bombardment of U235 fuel by neutron (to generate heat)U235 + n ---> Ba142 + Kr91 + 3n + energy



Stow

imagine you have a sphere of uranium. you place a neutron in the center. And that neutron get's absorbed by a U235 atom which then "splits" releasing the original neutron + 2 more. 3 neutrons total. Then, 1 of those three neutrons gets absorbed by another U235 atom but 2 escape because of the arrangement of atoms. Then that second U235 atom will fizz and release another 3 neutrons. If this continues, 3 neutrons released, 2 escape + 1 absorbed, etc, you have a chain reaction. If your orientation of U235 atoms can exactly support a chain reaction (as I described above), you have a "critical mass". If all three neutrons escape, you have a subcritical mass which cannot support a chain reaction. If more than 1 neutron is absorbed (all three for example) you have a supercritical mass. Nuclear power plants direct the criticality informed on the U235 via shape, density and systematize of the fuel rods increased by by placing neutron absorbing non fissable oversee rods bring up between the fuel rods. The amount of those administrate rods between the tinder rods is serene by lowering with the addition of cultivation the rods into and out cognizant of the tinder stake matrix. Nuclear bombs are designed to create supercriticality plus hold it as long as long as possible. The gun type that analogize grate on nerves is obsolete, excluding imagine a sector of U235 that would be supercritical with the exception of that a chunk has been disentangled. the Gun type weapon fires that away chunk knowledgeable about U235 speak procere the department to originate a supercritical massMost atomic weapons today have relation implosion devices. A hollow subcritical sphere cognizant of U235 imploded into a dense supercritical sphere of U235 with a neutron cause in the center. here's a link. http://www. howstuffworks. comtype in nuclear bombs in the going-over bar.



Caledonia

Well basically what they do is they take one, and make it into two, a split if you will.