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A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan, India and Canada). In a PWR, water is used both as a neutron moderator and as coolant fluid for the reactor core.
Control rod assembly for a pressurized water reactor, above fuel element Control rods are used in nuclear reactors to control the rate of fission of the nuclear fuel – uranium or plutonium . Their compositions include chemical elements such as boron , cadmium , silver , hafnium , or indium , that are capable of absorbing many neutrons without ...
English: Nuclear reactor: pressurized water type. Water is heated through the splitting of uranium atoms in the reactor core. The water, held under high pressure to keep it from boiling, produces steam by transferring heat to a secondary source of water. The steam is used to generate electricity.
The Koeberg nuclear power station, consisting of two pressurized water reactors fueled with uranium. The family of nuclear reactors known as light-water reactors (LWR), cooled and moderated using ordinary water, tend to be simpler and cheaper to build than other types of nuclear reactors [citation needed]; due to these factors, they make up the ...
An example of an induced nuclear fission event. A neutron is absorbed by the nucleus of a uranium-235 atom, which in turn splits into fast-moving lighter elements (fission products) and free neutrons.
A sample of thorium. Thorium-based nuclear power generation is fueled primarily by the nuclear fission of the isotope uranium-233 produced from the fertile element thorium.A thorium fuel cycle can offer several potential advantages over a uranium fuel cycle [Note 1] —including the much greater abundance of thorium found on Earth, superior physical and nuclear fuel properties, and reduced ...
But it will be tough to swiftly meet soaring power demand with nuclear reactors, as companies face an overburdened U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, potential uranium fuel supply obstacles and ...
One type uses solid nuclear graphite for the neutron moderator and ordinary water for the coolant. See the Soviet-made RBMK nuclear-power reactor. This was the type of reactor involved in the Chernobyl disaster. In the Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor, a British design, the core is made of a graphite neutron moderator where the fuel assemblies are ...