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Nuclear Energy
Nuclear energy
Fission The fission of one atom of U-235 generates 202.5MeV= 3.244 1011J, or 83.14 TJ/kg.[2]When23592Unuclides are bombarded with neutrons, one of the many fission reactions that it can undergo is the following
Power plant
Nuclear Reactors
Mostly used Light water reactors Used in US Heavy water reactor Used in Canada
Nuclear fuel
Nuclear fuel is a material that can be 'burned' by nuclear fission or fusion to derive nuclear energy. Nuclear fuel can refer to the fuel itself, or to physical objects (for example bundles composed of fuel rods) composed of the fuel material, mixed with structural, neutron moderating, or neutron reflecting materials.
The most common fissile nuclear fuels are uranium-235 (235U) and plutonium-239 (239Pu). The actions of mining, refining, purifying, using, and ultimately disposing of nuclear fuel together make up the nuclear fuel cycle. Not all types of nuclear fuels create power from nuclear fission.
For fission reactors, the fuel (typically based on uranium) is usually based on the metal oxide; the oxides are used rather than the metals themselves because the oxide melting point is much higher than that of the metal and because it cannot burn, being already in the oxidized state. UOX MOX Metal fuel Actinide fuel And more
Pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuel consists of cylindrical rods put into bundles. A uranium oxide ceramic is formed into pellets and inserted into Zircaloy tubes that are bundled together. The Zircaloy tubes are about 1cm in diameter, and the fuel cladding gap is filled with helium gas to improve the conduction of heat from the fuel to the cladding. There are about 179264 fuel rods per fuel bundle and about 121 to 193 fuel bundles are loaded into a reactor core
In boiling water reactors (BWR), the fuel is similar to PWR fuel except that the bundles are "canned"; that is, there is a thin tube surrounding each bundle. This is primarily done to prevent local density variations from affecting neutronics and thermal hydraulics of the reactor core. In modern BWR fuel bundles, there are 91, 92, or 96 fuel rods per assembly depending on the manufacturer. A range between 368 assemblies for the smallest and 800 assemblies for the largest U.S. BWR forms the reactor core. Each BWR fuel rod is back filled with helium to a pressure of about three atmospheres (300 kPa)
In March 2011, the approx. US $ cost to get 1 kg of uranium as UO reactor fuel (at current spot uranium price):