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Definition: nuclear reactor from The Macquarie Dictionary
1.

any device in which a self-sustaining chain reaction is maintained and controlled for the production of nuclear energy, fissile material, or radioactive isotopes.

Plural: nuclear reactors

nuclear reactor

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
device for producing controlled release of nuclear energy . Reactors can be used for research or for power production. A research reactor is designed to produce various beams of radiation for experimental application; the heat produced is a waste product and is dissipated as efficiently as possible. In a power reactor the heat produced is of primary importance for use in driving conventional heat engines; the beams of radiation are controlled by shielding. A fission reactor consists basically of a mass of fissionable material usually encased in shielding and provided with devices to regulate the rate of fission and an exchange system to extract the heat energy produced. A reactor is so constructed that fission of atomic nuclei produces a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction , in which the neutrons produced are able to split other nuclei. A chain reaction can be produced in a reactor by using uranium or plutonium in which the concentration of fissionable isotopes has been artificially…
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World electricity generation (statistics...
1. Nuclear Power and World Electricity Generation 2. Some Basics of Nuclear Science 3. Radiation Protection 4. Design of Nuclear Power Reactors 5. Commercial Nuclear Power Plants 6. Nuclear Power Plant Safety Systems 7. Next-Generation Nuclear Power Plants…
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Full text Article fusion, nuclear

From Philip's Encyclopedia
In experiments to generate power by nuclear...
Form of nuclear reaction in which nuclei of light atoms (such as hydrogen) combine to form one or more heavier nuclei with the release of large amounts of energy. The process takes place in the Sun and other stars, and has been reproduced on Earth in the hydrogen bomb . Efforts have since been…
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Over the latter half of the twentieth century, several materials were used by the nuclear industry in the construction and functioning of nuclear reactors. Those materials have been divided into the following categories: moderators, structural materials, coolants, and shielding materials. The…
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Full text Article nuclear reactor

From Philip's Encyclopedia
A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is so named...
Device in which nuclear fission (and sometimes nuclear fusion ) reactions are used for power generation or for the production of radioactive materials. In the reactor, the fuel is a radioactive heavy metal: uranium -235, uranium-233 or plutonium -239. In these metals, atoms break down spontaneously, …
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Full text Article Nuclear Reactor

From The Big Idea: How Breakthroughs of the Past Shape the Future Full text Article Physics & the Cosmos
Date: 1942 A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Today, the most common use of these devices is to generate electrical power and to provide power in some ships. A chain reaction is used to produce nuclear fission from a fissile material at a…
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Full text Article nuclear reactor

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Basic power cycles in nuclear power plants...
Device that can initiate and control a self-sustaining series of nuclear-fission reactions. Neutrons released in one fission reaction may strike other heavy nuclei, causing them to fission. The rate of this chain reaction is controlled by introducing materials, usually in the form of rods, that…
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Nuclear reactors carefully initiate and control a sustained chain reaction. At the core of a nuclear reactor is the radioactive uranium bundle of rods where the fission takes place. The energy released turns water into steam. The steam causes a turbine to spin, which in turn operates a generator. …
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Full text Article nuclear reactor

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
device for producing controlled release of nuclear energy . Reactors can be used for research or for power production. A research reactor is designed to produce various beams of radiation for experimental application; the heat produced is a waste product and is dissipated as efficiently as possible. …
| 962 words
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Full text Article nuclear reactor

From Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary
An assembly of fissionable material (uranium-235 or plutonium-239) designed to produce a sustained and controllable chain reaction for the generation of electric power. The first reactor (then called a “pile”) was constructed at the University of Chicago in 1942 under the leadership of Enrico Fermi. …
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Full text Article nuclear reactor

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Device for producing nuclear energy in a controlled manner. There are various types of reactor in use, all using nuclear fission . In a gas-cooled reactor , a circulating gas under pressure (such as carbon dioxide) removes heat from the core of the reactor, which usually contains natural uranium. …
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