What happens when you lower control rods in a nuclear reactor?

Lynchburg

Ok, I know the control rods are there to absorb neutrons to control the rate of nuclear fission going on so not too much steam is produced, but when they are lowered, what do they do and how do they do it. This is only at GCSE level so nothing crazy that maybe A-LEVEL standard. To see the question you can get the paper off the AQA website, look under past papers, Physics 2 module (PHY2H) and its the January 08 paper, question 4b)Cheers



Lonsdale

I think you just about answered the questions yourself - the boron of the control rods stops the neutrons and so reduces or stops the chain reactionv - unlike to graphite core or moderator that just slows down the neutrons.