What is Reactor: Definition and 369 Discussions

The conventional commercial fission reactors use uranium-235 as fuel. Its cross section of (n, fission) reaction at thermal neutron is about 585 barns. My question is: Is there a known threshold of the cross section that makes a nuclear reaction not sustainable if the minimal cross section is...

I am a young designer and attempting to design a plasma reactor. I have a lot of the design figured out, in theory, but my main problem is the type of plasma I would need to use that emits a large amount of thermal energy with as little materials needed to maintain efficiency. Any assistance...

I'm wondering if a fusion reactor would make its walls more radioactive thru neutron activation than a fission reactor, for a given amount of energy. It seems to me that (hydrogen) fusion produces most of its energy as neutrons that are unlikely to absorbed by the sparse near vacuum plasma...

I have this project in school for settlement on moon. I have this idea that the large quantities of He 3 on moon could be extracted by heating the regolith at 700 degrees celsius and then could be taken to a reactor in which He 3 could be fused with Deuterium or itself. The heat produced could...

Please,I am working on the criticality calculation of an homogeneous finite cylindrical reactor core using four-group diffusion equations. I have been able to discretize the multigroup diffusion equations using the finite difference method(FED). But I am stocked on the iterative method to...

Since thorium is not regulated as far as I know (though also not exactly commercially available, because of how cheap it is, and all that) and it's not particularly dangerous, even in a reactor, is there anything (other than the price/knowledge) stopping individuals from building small thorium...

Hello all, This might sound very optimistic for a project but I want to design a thermonuclear fusion reactor. Does anyone know how I can calculate the required plasma current I need in order to start a thermonuclear fusion process? I am using a mixture of Deuterium-Tritium gas. Thanks!

I read a very interesting article about this u235 deposit found in Africa. Everything I have read about it suggest that some of the components needed for this to naturally occur can not exist without human intervention. The water involved in the nuclear reaction must be extremely pure. Even a...

Hello, i am Ali doing PhD studies i am working on Activation Analysis of Hybrid reactor but i just stat studying this geometry but i am not able to understand this geometry for MCNPX modeling, so i need some help in modelling this geometry in MCNPX. please guide me in this regard

Hi , I, Arnendu, want a really big fan of Iron Man and Physics. I have a question . We all know iron man get his suit's power from The Arc Reactor. So, I think why scientists can't make it properly, the science behind it and its usefulness. So, I request you all to send your reply...

Im doing a project about Anaerobic SBR and would like a few thoughts from anyone. Was anaerobic SBR is the evolutionary of the SBR ?

I'm about to attempt this question but beforehand I was hoping if someone could just check if my diagram is correct on the basis of the question; A feed stream contains H2, CO and a trace of CH4. Pure CH3OH is produced by means of a reactor (CO + 2H2→CH3OH), separator and recycle with purge to...

Among the radioactive products emitted in the 1986 Chernobyl reactor accident were 131I ( t1/2 = 8.0 d) and 137Cs (t1/2 = 30 y). There are about five times as many 137Cs atoms as 131I atoms produced in fission. (a) Which isotope contributes the greater activity to the radiation cloud? Assume the...

How would a super-critical heavy water cooled and moderated two fluid aqueous homogeneous reactor with nitrate fuel work? Silicon carbide or alumina can be used as cladding for the internal seed core and blanket walls, with the silicon carbide on the blanket wall cladding stainless steel and...

Good evening, PF! I am supposed to model the following system. I will be using the same notation as in BSL. Fluid A enters the reaction zone at z = 0 at a concentration CA0. A reacts to form B in the first order reaction A → B at a rate of R_A = k_1''' C_A. We assume the whole mixture to be...

Would SS304 or SS316 be a better choice for a reactor containing 200 kg/hr sulphuric acid (97%), 2000 kg/hr methanol (98%) and 3500 kg/hr free fatty acids mixture? My initial choice was SS304 since the sulphuric acid amount was little, but upon reading more on methanol, I'm considering about 316...

Homework Statement Homework EquationsThe Attempt at a Solution Hello, I get confused with input and output and state variables. Since we want to control ##C_{Ao}##, I assume that needs to be the output variable in the vector ##\vec {y}##. I think the inputs should be ##C_{Ai}## and...

Imagine if we had a plutonium economy, where nuclear reactors breeding 239-Pu from 238-U and burning it were the standard in large-scale grid power production. Could this readily available reactor grade plutonium be used in compact reactors for ships, et cetera? Can small reactors of perhaps...

I have obtained the volume of my CSTR, how do I calculate the height and diameter of it? Is there a certain ratio to adhere to for better mixing? Tried reading up the rules of thumbs but no info on that. Tried searching other books too but to no avail.

Homework Statement My question is regarding part (e), I just gave all the questions for reference. Homework EquationsThe Attempt at a Solution These are the coupled equations I should solve (from part d) My issue is using ode45 to get ##C_{A}(t)##, ##C_{P}(t)##, and ##T(t)##. Here is my...

http://news.sciencemag.org/physics/2015/08/secretive-fusion-company-makes-reactor-breakthroughAbove is a link to a news story about the recent Tri Alpha Energy “breakthrough”. It looks to me like a very nice development in increased stability of a proposed reactor design. Tri Alpha emphasizes...

The SMiRT conference/symposium has been an important venue over the decades for folks involved in structural mechanics applied to nuclear power systems, from fuel and core components, to large components like pressure vessels, piping, heat exchangers, and related equipment, up through...

Is it made of quartz or stainless steel/aluminum or what? Does it matter which?that's all I need to know, I just can't seem to find if they can be made of standard vacuum metals or if they have to be quartz. Only really seen some diagrams mention quartz tubes but the pictures of large ones seem...

Approximately, what is the total mass of these materials that is contained in a "typical" Gen III or III+ PWR (e.g., EPR, AP1000...)? 1/ Zr alloy (fuel cladding and other assembly components)? 2/ Ag-In-Cd alloy (control rods)? 3/ Gd (burnable neutron absorber)? 4/ Ni-based alloys? 5/ Stainless...

The question of neutronics or reactor physics methods has come up at various times and with respect to different aspects. I thought it would be worthwhile to explore various methods, the technology and their applications. Broadly, reactor physics calculations involve solving equations related...

So, I've been at this for a while now. I am using my textbook (Introduction to NE, Lamarsh) and I cannot find a solution to calculate the thermal and fast fluxes in the reflector of a critical slab reactor. I have only been able to find solutions for the spherical shape, even online. As I...

Hi, I am somewhat new to reactor design and processes, and I am wondering what exactly is the purpose of CSTRs in series. I read somewhere that "when high conversions of reactants are needed, several CSTRs in series can be used", but couldn't one also simply use a large volume CSTR if he/she...

Ok, so before I begin, I'd like to point out that I'm a 16-year-old GCSE student from the UK. Therefore all of my physics knowledge above high school level is self-taught, so I am by no means an expert. Anyway, I plan on building a deuterium reactor this Summer as a personal project, and I've...

As part of a research project, I've been asked to design an industrial scale model for the synthesis of titania nanowires. These are currently being produced at a scale of 500 g every three days (being that it takes three days for the nanowires to morph using the given method). My director has...

I read a little bit about General Atomics EM2 reactor in the December issue of Nuclear News that someone had brought to work recently. I haven't had a chance to read all of the article and I am curious about this reactor design. Are any of you involved in it? It claims to be able to run for 30...

Hi All, I have a question about resonance cross sections. I have been doing the design work on the reactor I want to propose for testing at Oak Ridge National Labs, and have run into a problem. It is an accelerator driven reactor transmuting thorium into uranium, then burning the uranium by...

What do you call the final product or products that exit from a reactor

I just started learning MCNP for research reactor analysis. Can anybody advise where and how I could easily get material to read and practice

So as we all know (or at least I assume) Global Warming is real and happening, I am a teen, 17, and not trying to get answers for homework or anything like that. I just want to know, is it possible to create fusion using the temperature found at active Geo-thermal sites to reach the temp...

Hello PF! I have a simple question on energy balances. Suppose you have an isothermal reactor where you want to have an exothermic reaction happening at 450 °C. The simplified energy balance for the reactor is Q = ΔH. Supposing ΔH = -150 kcal, then Q = -150 kcal. Does this mean that, a) in order...

Homework Statement I am currently taking an introductory course in nuclear engineering. We are using Lamarsh's Introduction to Nuclear Engineering, 3rd Ed. My question revolves around calculating fuel burnup and consumption rates for thermal reactors and fast reactors. In particular, problem...

Can someone please explain to me why the answer to the following question is Krypton? A step by step solution would be ideal please! (b)The following reaction occurs in a nuclear reactor: 235U+01n →141Ba+X+301n+202.5MeV (i) Identify the element X. Many thanks! (Question is Q12 b part i...

Transatomic is recent nuclear startup by a couple of MIT nuclear engineers which has so far gathered a few million dollars in funding. Their particular design approach uses molten salt for a fuel as does the LFTR proposal, but eschews thorium for a uranium only design. The Transatomic...

Me and my friends have been trying (b) for soooo long! we have gone to PhD students and some fluid dynamic doctors for held and they cannot figure this out. 1. Homework Statement 2) This question concerns the design of a ‘micro-chemostat’ device. E. coli exhibiting chemotaxis can swim up to...

Hi to all, I am currently a student studying chemistry in high-school. My teacher has a program which he runs on very old laptops called the PAX Nuclear Reactor Simulator. I have a bit of experience writing code in C and Java. My teacher has mentioned that the school may trash the laptops which...

Everyone is heard of Iron Man's Arc Reactor. But is such a power source possible??

Hello all, From those guys who worked with different materials especially reactor moderators and coolants, is it practicality possible to compress D2O between two metallic parts until it remains solid in room temperature? In otherwords wants to have D2O in solid at room temperature. Thanks in...

A recent issue of Aviation Week described a novel design for a fusion reactor from the Lockheed Skunk Works. It was smaller, simpler and lighter than the extant systems now being built and they're optimistic about it's test run in five years. I wrote a letter to the editor touting this departure...

Homework Statement One mole of gas A, two moles of gas B, and one mole of inert gas I are fed into an adiabatic reactor of variable volume and constant pressure at 25 °C. At this temperature, the reaction yielding liquid R proceeds normally as: \textrm{A} (g) + \textrm{B} (g) \rightarrow...

Hello, I'm 15 and very interested in physics. I'm building a safe nuclear fusion reactor as a science project. (I know how to safely handle high voltage and radiation) I have a question about the power supply. First off, I know that fusion takes around 40 Kilo-volts and it needs to have a...

I can’t find yield data for the concurrent creation and decay of fission products in an operating reactor. All the references I can find on the net are for the decay of a fixed lump. In an operating reactor the lump is (for a while) growing at the same time it is decaying. So, I started my...

Dear all, I'm a university student in charge of developing a biochemical device (reactor) for the depuration of leather factory wastewaters, this is an european project leaded by Ambiental Engineering University of Florence. Part of this device should be colonized with fungi in order to purify...

Homework Statement The elementary liquid phase reaction A + B \rightarrow C is carried out in a 500 L reactor. The entering concentrations of streams A and B are both 2 M and the specific reaction rate is 0.01 L/(mol min). (a) Calculate the time to reach 90% conversion if the reactor is a...

After Lockheed Martins announcement that they were developing a fusion reactor that might fit on the back of a pickup truck, I got into a conversation with someone about how one would shield such a device. So I found some tables that described the cross section of protons at different energy...

Hello, I went through a problem in my reaction engineering textbook, and solved them correctly by basically mindlessly plugging into the equation, but now I wanted to get some help interpreting the results. So we had a reversible, elementary gas phase reaction that is isothermal and isobaric...