The Technical Description project was quite different than any other projects I had done. Not only was I required to talk about an object, but also explain how it works. One obstacle I came across was finding a mechanism that is both complex enough to talk about, yet simplistic enough for readers to understand. I decided to go with the process in which a nuclear reactor generates electricity. It sounds complicated but I tried explaining the process as simple as possible.
When I created my first draft, it was informative, however it had a terrible flow. As a result, I decided to rewrite my paper and start the writing process with an outline of the information and how I want to organize the technical description. This was extremely useful and helped me highlight my main points and ideas better.
My final draft contains pictures to help readers understand the process easier, as well as better formatted sources.
Nuclear energy is one of the most reliable sources of green energy and although the possibility of nuclear fallout and radiation leaks sound scary, nuclear energy is actually extremely safe. Specially with the regulations and preventions that have been studied and developed over the past few decades. In addition, nuclear waste can be reused to produce more energy or even recycled to make edibles products. With its progress, maybe someday the whole world will be powered with nuclear energy. The possibilities are endless, but first scientists must learn how it works before thinking of how to use it. Understanding how a nuclear reactor works is not really that complicated; it is chemistry, not rocket science. This technical description will look into each phase of the process in detail. There are four phases in total and it all begins with setting up a nuclear plant’s core reactor.
Phase 1: The Core Reactor
Phase one of the process is to prepare a nuclear reactor core, which is where the reaction takes place. The reactor core is made up of three crucial parts: the control rods, the moderator, and the fuel elements.1 Since nuclear reactors generate an intense amounts of energy extremely fast, scientists need to slow down the process or else things might get out of hand. For this, scientists have developed and used control rods and moderators. Control rods are used to absorb any spare materials. They are constantly changed in order to keep the energy generated in check. The moderator (also known as coolant) is a liquid used as a cooling system and to slow down the process. Usually, water is used as a moderator, which is why nuclear power plants are often placed near a lake or river. In order to keep the temperature in check, there are pumps that constantly refill the reactor core with cool water. Finally, the fuel elements are the materials used to generate power. Commonly, uranium-235 and plutonium-238 are used as fuel elements since both elements are extremely reactive and unstable. In part, this means that in comparison to other elements, uranium and plutonium generate the most heat when undergoing fission. This is exactly what is needed for phase 2: fission.
Phase 2: Fission
The second phase is fission, a reaction that generates an intense amount of heat.3 Fission is essentially the division of an atom’s nucleus and it is a natural process that takes years, sometimes decades and even centuries. In order to speed up this process, scientists bombard the fuel elements with neutrons until it breaks down.4 Neutrons are used because they do not have a positive or negative charge, meaning that it has no other effects on the reaction. However, heat is not the only thing that is released. The neutrons from the nucleus are shot out at high speeds, hitting other uranium nuclei. This causes a chain reaction that keeps breaking down the fuel element until nothing is left but waste. This may sound dangerous, like poking a sleeping bear with a stick, but scientist have figured out ways to control the reaction. While this happens, the moderator slows down the speed of the neutrons by being on the neutron’s way, essentially serving as traffic. The control rods absorb any spare neutrons so the process doesn’t get out of control. Now that heat is being released, the surrounding water begins to heat and boil. The hot water rises and is then taken by a pump into pipes that transport it to the heat exchanger. Now begins the third phase of the process.
Phase 3: Heat Exchanger
The heat exchanger is a tank of cool water located away from the nuclear core reactor. A set of pipes carrying the boiling water goes into the heat exchanger. Since the water could be radioactive, it is not dumped into the heat exchanger. Instead, the pipes run inside of the heat exchanger and the radiated heat is what heats the water around the pipes. As the water inside the heat exchanger heats up, the water in the pipes cool down and returns to the core reactor. The water inside the heat exchanger heats up and turns into steam, which goes to the turbine.
Phase 4: Turbine
Finally, the fourth phase is using a steam turbine to generate electricity. A steam turbine is like a fan that uses air currents to generate electricity. The steam rushing through the blades causes the blades to spin. As the blades spin, a shaft made up of copper coil, in the middle of the contraption, begins to spin. Magnets on fixed blades generate a magnetic field that pushes electrons to one direction, which is what generates electricity.5 This also cools down some of the steam and condenses it back into water. The steam turns back into water and is reused in the system. The steam that does not cool down is released into nature, which is why nuclear power plants have a huge white cloud coming out of its towers.
Clearly, a nuclear reactor is not as complicated as it sounds. It all begins in a nuclear core reactor, which is made up of fuel elements, control rods, and a moderator. The fuel element, Uranium-238 or Plutonium-235, is bombarded with neutrons until its nucleus splits. This causes fission, which releases a lot of heat that is harnessed for energy. When this happens, a chain reaction happens, and more fission reactions take place as more neutrons are released. The heat generated is absorbed by the water and transported to a heat exchanger. Water inside the heat exchanger is so hot that it turns into steam. The steam rushes through pipes until it reaches a steam turbine. The turbine generates electricity and it travels for miles until it reaches our homes and other buildings.
- World Nuclear Association, October 2018, Components of a nuclear reactor
- World Nuclear Association, March 2017, Uranium
- Cambridge Dictionary, n.d
- HyperPhysics, n.d, Nuclear Fission
- PetroTech, n.d, How Does a Steam Turbine Work?
