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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 refers to any substance, typically fissile material, which is used by nuclear power stations or other nuclear devices to generate energy.
Fission product yields by mass for thermal neutron fission of U-235 and Pu-239 (the two typical of current nuclear power reactors) and U-233 (used in the thorium cycle). This page discusses each of the main elements in the mixture of fission products produced by nuclear fission of the common nuclear fuels uranium and plutonium.
To improve the fuel's sensitivity to neutrons, a neutron moderator is used, in this case highly purified graphite. [2] [3] The reactors consisted of a huge cube of this material (the "pile") made up of many smaller blocks and drilled through horizontally to make a large number of fuel channels. Uranium fuel was placed in aluminium canisters and ...
In nuclear engineering, fissile material is material that can undergo nuclear fission when struck by a neutron of low energy. [1] A self-sustaining thermal chain reaction can only be achieved with fissile material. The predominant neutron energy in a system may be typified by either slow neutrons (i.e., a thermal system) or fast neutrons.
The 0.72% uranium-235 is not sufficient to produce a self-sustaining critical chain reaction in light water reactors or nuclear weapons; these applications must use enriched uranium. Nuclear weapons take a concentration of 90% uranium-235, and light water reactors require a concentration of roughly 3% uranium-235. [3]
129 I is one of the seven long-lived fission products that are produced in significant amounts. Its yield is 0.706% per fission of 235 U. [7] Larger proportions of other iodine isotopes such as 131 I are produced, but because these all have short half-lives, iodine in cooled spent nuclear fuel consists of about 5/6 129 I and 1/6 the only stable iodine isotope, 127 I.
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The valley of stability can be helpful in interpreting and understanding properties of nuclear decay processes such as decay chains and nuclear fission. The uranium-238 series is a series of α (N and Z less 2) and β− decays (N less 1, Z plus 1) to nuclides that are successively deeper into the valley of stability.