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Coordinates: 53.36°N 0.81°W. Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) is a spherical tokamak fusion plant concept proposed by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and funded by the UK government. [1][2][3] The project is a proposed DEMO -class successor device to the ITER tokamak proof-of-concept of a fusion plant, the ...
Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. When a fissile nucleus like uranium-235 or plutonium-239 absorbs a neutron, it splits into lighter nuclei, releasing energy, gamma radiation, and free neutrons, which can induce further fission in a self-sustaining chain reaction.
The first production of usable nuclear electricity occurred on December 20, 1951, when four light bulbs were lit with electricity generated from the EBR-I reactor. The reactor is in the building at center; the two structures lower left are reactors from the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Project .
Nuclear fuel. Nuclear fuel process. A graph comparing nucleon number against binding energy. Close-up of a replica of the core of the research reactor at the Institut Laue-Langevin. Nuclear fuel is material used in nuclear power stations to produce heat to power turbines. Heat is created when nuclear fuel undergoes nuclear fission.
The liquid fluoride thorium reactor (LFTR; often pronounced lifter) is a type of molten salt reactor. LFTRs use the thorium fuel cycle with a fluoride -based molten (liquid) salt for fuel. In a typical design, the liquid is pumped between a critical core and an external heat exchanger where the heat is transferred to a nonradioactive secondary ...
Fission of the nuclear fuel in any reactor unavoidably produces neutron-absorbing fission products. The fertile material from a breeder reactor then needs to be reprocessed to remove those neutron poisons. This step is required to fully utilize the ability to breed as much or more fuel than is consumed.
Fusion power. Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, while releasing energy. Devices designed to harness this energy are known as fusion reactors.
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium in nuclear power plants. Nuclear decay processes are used in ...