Space refers to building space, excluding belts and pipes.

The net energy for each Uranium Fuel Rod, after subtracting manufacturing energy and energy to supply Water to the Nuclear Power Plant, are written in green under the product.

Energy per item can be used to measure how much power is consumed for the entire production chain.

Weighted Point is the weighted consumption rate which is calculated by: (resource consumption rate / maximum extraction rate) * 10,000.

While the production rate is normalized at 60 / min for easier calculation, the maximum production rate is only 50.4 / min due to Uranium capped at 2100 / min.

The result: a safe and sustained nuclear reaction, which provides the carbon-free energy to power our homes and businesses.The following shows different ways to produce 1 Uranium Fuel Rod / second, or 60 / min: Most importantly, it requires highly skilled operators to safely control startup as well as extremely knowledgeable reactor engineering and technical specialists to offer support. It requires the proper amount of fuel as well as a means of setting the first neutron off. Though different, essentially, each of these processes results in the release of neutrons to start a nuclear reaction.Īchieving and sustaining a nuclear reaction is a complex process. These primarily come from three different processes: intrinsic source neutrons, photoneutrons and transuranic source neutrons. Instead they use source neutrons for starting the reactor back up. Because of that, they don’t require a startup neutron source like brand new reactors. Operating nuclear plants only change out approximately one-third of their fuel. As control rods are lifted from the reactor core, neutrons from the neutron source start to fire, and because there is enough fuel for a sustained reaction, we start the fission process, which sustains a plant for an entire 18 to 24 months of operation. These metallic elements are inserted into the reactor with new nuclear fuel. This is caused by a startup neutron source, such as Californium-252 or Plutonium-238. Once there is enough fuel to cause a reaction, a plant that has never operated before and has all new fuel would need something to start the neutrons firing. Simply, it takes a considerable amount of fuel to achieve a sustained nuclear reaction like what’s achieved inside one of our site’s nuclear reactors. That’s one of the reasons someone in a fuel fabrication facility can safely touch individual fuel pellets or even fuel rods during the manufacturing process. For the reaction to be sustained, there must be enough uranium atoms for a continuous reaction.

The answer is that a sustained nuclear reaction requires the right kind of conditions. Were you to visit a fuel fabrication facility in the United States, it would resemble any other manufacturing facility, as workers move fuel from one stage in the process to another.Īt this point, you might wonder why these pellets do not cause a reaction. It’s a naturally-occurring element that is mined from the earth, enriched and converted into a dense, compact fuel pellet about the size of a pencil eraser. Nuclear plants use uranium as their fuel source. The essential ingredient in the process is the fuel itself. Additionally, the reactor core is carefully controlled, reactors have control rods, which can be inserted into the reactor to absorb neutrons to slow the reaction. A reactor core is designed to be inherently stable while operating, where a feedback loop lowers the power of the core as temperatures increase, providing stability. We call this process of splitting atoms fission.

powered by radioactive fuel pellets, often composed of uranium oxide. This splitting produces heat, which is converted into energy for power, and it produces two neutrons which continue the process, called a chain reaction. After the war, scientists developed nuclear reactors for civilian energy needs. This extra neutron creates unstable Uranium-236 isotopes, which split almost instantly. A neutron collides with a Uranium-235 atom. To help shed some light on this mystery, here’s a highly simplified explanation for how it works.įirst, let’s talk about how the reaction process works for a commercial nuclear reactor. For those of us who aren’t nuclear operators or engineers, it can seem like a mysterious process. One of the many questions we receive from community members is about the startup process of a nuclear reaction in our plants.

Nuclear fission uranium fuel