Nuclear power plants
Introduction
A nuclear thermal power plant or nuclear plant is an industrial installation of fissile nuclear fuel that, through nuclear reactions, provides heat that in turn is used, through a conventional thermodynamic cycle, to produce the movement of alternators that transform mechanical work into electrical energy. These plants consist of one or more reactors.
The core of a nuclear reactor consists of a container or vessel inside which blocks of a material that insulates against radioactivity are housed, commonly graphite or concrete filled with nuclear fuel made up of fissile material (uranium-235 or plutonium-239). In the process, a sustained and moderate reaction is established thanks to the use of auxiliary elements that absorb the excess of neutrons released, keeping the chain reaction of the radioactive material under control; These other elements are called moderators.
Surrounding the core of a nuclear reactor is the reflector whose function is to return part of the neutrons that escape from the reaction to the core.
The control rods that are optionally immersed in the reactor serve to moderate or accelerate the multiplication factor of the chain reaction process of the nuclear circuit.
The special shielding that surrounds the reactor absorbs radioactivity emitted in the form of neutrons, gamma radiation, alpha particles and beta particles.
An external cooling circuit helps extract excess heat generated.
Nuclear facilities are complex constructions due to the scarcity of industrial technologies used and the high level of wisdom with which they are endowed. The characteristics of the nuclear reaction mean that it can be dangerous if it loses control.
Nuclear energy is characterized by producing, in addition to a large amount of electrical energy, nuclear waste that must be stored in specialized repositories. On the other hand, it does not produce atmospheric pollution from gases derived from combustion that produce the greenhouse effect, since it does not require the use of fossil fuels for its operation.
Operation
Contenido
Las centrales nucleares constan principalmente de cuatro partes:.
El reactor nuclear es el encargado de realizar la fisión de los átomos del combustible nuclear, como uranio, generando como residuo el plutonio, liberando una gran cantidad de energía calorífica por unidad de masa de combustible.