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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.
Diagram of an RTG used on the Cassini probe. A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG, RITEG), sometimes referred to as a radioisotope power system (RPS), is a type of nuclear battery that uses an array of thermocouples to convert the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioactive material into electricity by the Seebeck effect.
Like most other generation I nuclear reactors, the magnox was designed with the dual purpose of producing electrical power and plutonium-239 for the nascent nuclear weapons programme in Britain. The name refers specifically to the United Kingdom design but is sometimes used generically to refer to any similar reactor.
Nuclear power plants have a carbon footprint comparable to that of renewable energy such as solar farms and wind farms, [7] [8] and much lower than fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal. Nuclear power plants are among the safest modes of electricity generation, [9] comparable to solar and wind power plants. [10]
Diagram of a nuclear reactor using graphite as a moderator "Graphite reactor" directs here. For the graphite reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, see X-10 Graphite Reactor. A graphite-moderated reactor is a nuclear reactor that uses carbon as a neutron moderator, which allows natural uranium to be used as nuclear fuel.
Dresden 1 Nuclear Flow Diagram featured a secondary steam generator for load following The reactor featured a dual cycle, with steam coming from both the stream drum and steam generators. This made for rapid response to changes in power demand.
The advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) is a type of nuclear reactor designed and operated in the United Kingdom. These are the second generation of British gas-cooled reactors, using graphite as the neutron moderator and carbon dioxide as coolant. They have been the backbone of the UK's nuclear power generation fleet since the 1980s.
Containment systems for nuclear power reactors are distinguished by size, shape, materials used, and suppression systems. The kind of containment used is determined by the type of reactor, generation of the reactor, and the specific plant needs. Suppression systems are critical to safety analysis and greatly affect the size of containment.