What is Reactor: Definition and 369 Discussions

I had a homework question I am really stuck on- How do you calculate neuron flux

Hello Chaps, I have been thinking about for a bit and the texts i have are quite vague on the topic. I'd like to know what monitoring devices are used for the control rods. I would have to assume that power output or neutron detection is used for this purpose? Cheers, Rhys

Homework Statement Consider the following two well-mixed, isothermal batch reactors for the elementary and irreversible decomposition of A to B, A\stackrel{k}{\rightarrow}2B reactor1: The reactor volume is constant (Pressure is variable) reactor2: The reactor pressure is constant (Volume is...

Homework Statement Consider the following two well-mixed, isothermal batch reactors for the elementary and irreversible decomposition of A to B, A\stackrel{k}{\rightarrow}2B reactor1: The reactor volume is constant (Pressure is variable) reactor2: The reactor pressure is constant (Volume is...

i was watching this show on the Science Channel and in it they talked about a new type of fusion reactor that is currently being built(construction started like 30 years ago). They said it will produce energy for entire world the same way the sun produces energy (fusing hydrogen). It's suppose...

In this problem, we're going get a rough estimate the amount of uranium fuel it would take if the US received all its electrical power from nuclear power plants. The size of a power plant in normally given as the about of electrical power it can produce when running a full capacity. This...

Hi folks, can anyone suggest a good and current reference text on nuclear reactor theory and physics? I'm a theorist, so mathematically sophisticated presentation is welcome. Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

Hey, The question is. Are they ever going to open more Nuclear Engineering reactor colleges? I know in the WHOLE state of PA, there are "1" college and it's Penn State main campus. 0 are in NJ. 1 in NY but I think not sure might close out the reactor in NY. The college is Cornell in upstate...

well, that's the heading of a project i am doing...i need some help on neutron detectors... how they are dectected and what is the probable graph of count rate vs, pulse height that i might get for a nuclar fission reaction of U-235... can anyone help?

There's an article in the May 12 2008 New Yorker Magazine by Malcolm Gladwell, in which he talks about brainstorming sessions by teams of inventors headed by Nathan Myhrvold. One of the ideas is a small Nuclear Reactor with no moving parts. Supposedly the core would be about 3x10 meters...

Assuming a Light Water Reactor, what would be the decay energy of the fission products of the reactor's nuclear waste and it's thermal yield? What I am getting at is that instead of just storing the waste, i want to know how much electricity the waste emits. I have very little information...

Assuming a Light Water Reactor, what would be the decay energy of the fission products taken out of a reactor (the reactor's nuclear waste) and it's thermal yield? What I am getting at is, there is all this talk of safe storage of nuclear waste...but that nuclear waste is still emitting...

Nuclear-Plant Analyses Ordered http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120847674445424819-email.html Article also mentions that the interest in new plants is leading to heightened scrutiny of existing plants; a few licenses are at risk. Why the additional scrutiny?

I heard and read several times that a pebble bed reactor is "safer" than a PWR or a BWR. However, I fail to figure out how. After all, light-water reactors also have negative temperature coefficients, which seem to be the "invention" that makes the pebble bed reactor "inherently safe". But I...

This may not be an appropriate place to ask this, and if that is the case please chastise me and cast me out. Given that the members of this forum seem to be very educated and intelligent, especially in regards to these fields I wanted to ask a question. What would be the absolute worst case...

http://www.thalesnano.com/products/h-cube Hopefully I can convince the boss to buy one of those puppies. They sound so friggin sweet -mg to 100g scale hydrogenations -premade cartridges w/ desired catalysts -0-100 C temperature -1-100 bar pressures can be used -can monitor reaction...

Does anyone know why this project lost its funding? From what I understand it was three years from being completed. The prototype EBR II which had tests conducted to verify the passive safety system were successful and then BAM funding is cut. Was it due to Chernobyl or Three Mile Island. I...

I found these forums while doing background research. Since there seem to be quite a lot of experts hanging around here, can you review my RBMK reactor diagram - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:RBMK_reactor_schematic.svg ? Any comments are welcome.

Homework Statement What product of heavy water reactors has been used to create hydrogen bombs? Homework Equations This is basically what I'm looking for. The Attempt at a Solution It's not a math question. I took an online quiz for my class and it said it was Tritium, but I...

Hi All, I tried searching on the internet but I could not find much info. How does a MITEE (Miniature Reactor Engine) work? It's for a school project. What are the inputs and processes that go on within such an engine? Thanks! Y.A.

The plutonium that is produced in a nuclear reactor, is it still able to be re-used in another reactor? If it can be re-used, does it need another special type of reactor to be effective? Are they doing this and I am just unaware of it?:confused: Thanks!

If I have a reactor that needs to operate at 300 kW thermal power for twenty years, how much fissionable material (U-235) do I need? I calculated that this will require 1.89E14 J, or 1.18E27 MeV. 931 MeV = 1u, so I have 1.27E24 u. This is .002 kg, which seems really small. Am I doing...

What nuclear fission reactor design has the least environmental impact? Including the building, operating, safety, and amount of pollution produced? I'd imagine IFR/breeder reactors as they burn actinides.

I know we use radioactive elements in nuclear reactors and the heat given of to generate electricity in the traditional steam driven turbine way, at least that's what I read. I was wondering why we can't make it more efficient through double electron capture and use captured electrons given off...

Any ideas about the causes of the incident at the new Australian research reactor (OPAL) where some fuel plates in some of the assemblies were found to be elevated? I.e., translated vertically upwards. This has been reported as the plates being "partially" dislodged, but the actual degree of...

Homework Statement Measurements o the percentage of enrichment of 12 fuel rods used in a nuclear reactor were reported with a sample mean of 3.26. Test the hypothesis H_0: \mu=2.95 versus H_1: \mu\neq2.95, and draw appropriate conclusions. Use the p-value approach. Homework Equations...

i have desided to make a miniature nuclear reactor as my science project .i beg the helps from all physicsforum members...

Does anyone here know of any books which teach how nuclear reactors work/are constructed? Thanks in advance.

Hi, I am trying to do a experiment on artificially induced hibernation of mice. I am trying to send 80ppm of a hibernation inducting substance in the atmosphere of the mouse cage. The compound is H2S which is generally toxic but completely safe at these levels. H2S is gaseous at -60 degrees...

Consider a reactor being held sub-critical, Keff < 1, by control rods. The reactor has heavy water reflector and has been operatored for some time prior to the current state (we got Photo Neutrons). Keff is then bought to 1. It seems to me, for Keff = 1 the neutron population should be...

Ok so I know that this seems like an absolutely absurd and almost impossible idea but I want to build a nuclear reactor to enter in the state science fair next year. I know that it takes time, wit and money but I'm completely prepared to take on the challenge. So the point of posting this...

In an argon atmosphere, there is a pure platinum crucible that is used to heat Calcium Chloride salts to 850 deg C. After it is heated, pure chlorine gas is bubbled through the molten salt to remove CaO impurities. The heating method is by induction heating. My questions/concerns: Since we...

Hello, Quick question I'm having a hard time finding much information, or at least information I'm absorbing. I'm just supposed to write a paragraph on: Could the same accident at Chernobyl happen in a CANDU 3 reactor? Anything to help get me started anyone?

I read a sentence in my book saying, The fast neutrons released through the first nuclear fission are passed into the moderator, thus producing (becoming) thermal neutrons. What is a Thermal neutron? What is the difference between Thermal and a Fast Neutron?

There's a a paper by J Marvin Herndon about the feasibility of a fission reactor about 5 miles wide at the centre of the Earth,which could generate the geomagnetic field.Someone said in New Scientist magazine that because gravitational forces are nearly zero at the Earth's centre then the heavy...

Homework Statement The elements of a boiling water nuclear reactor consist of long cylindrical rods of uranium dioxide (U02) of diameter 8mm surrounded by a thin layer of aluminium cladding. In the reactor core the elements are cooled by boiling water at 285°C with a heat transfer...

I am not sure why the Pebble Bed modular reactor (PBMR) is being touted as the great solution to problems with nuclear power. It uses a once through, virtually non-reprocessible fuel. It produces a high volume of waste consisting not only of the fuel but the casing/moderator which has about 50...

Hey there , It's known that metalic U was uesed as a fuel in certain types of reactors. What I 'd like to know : 1-Which type of reactor use metalic Uranium ? 2-Is Uranium metal used nowdays as a fuel? 3-what are the disadvantages of using U as a metal beside reacting highly with water ?

please help me in understanding the following scenarios: 1. how could one approach first criticality in practice? 2. what would happen if we start-up with full power conditions from first criticality? 3. what would the shutdown requirement be in comparison to an equilibrium core? thank...

using tin foil and fissile material from 1950s glow in the dark stuff. does anyone have a link/ know anything about this? i vaguely remember reading about it a while back but maybe i just dreamt it or something...?

now, in simple terms, all a nuclear reactor is a steam engine i know that we use the emitting nutrons to heat up water, which boils, then moves a turbine, but THIS IS SO SIMPLE! why, why, why, isn't there a more simple way to convert this neutron into useable energy? a significantly size...

What would happen if we applied high potential difference to a mixture of deuterium and tritium gases in a superconducting tube?:confused: Would the electric discharge give suffecient energy and conditions for fusion to occur??:rolleyes:

In a nuclear reactor, neutrons released by nuclear fission must be slowed down before they can trigger additional reactions in other nuclei. To see what sort of material is most effective in slowing (or moderating) a neutron, calculate the ratio of a neutron's final kinetic energy to its initial...

This is a developing area in the nuclear industry involving large scale multiphysics computation. For the past several years Argonne National Laboratory and Purdue University have been supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to develop a...

"nuclear reactor physics" by Weston Stacey I just bought it and started reading it. Anybody know the book ? Opinions, remarks ? I might have a few questions when reading it, are some people prepared to discuss it ? As a first question, actually, on the cross section plots, there's always...

pleas interduce a site that contain hamilton nuclear reactor analysis books chapter problem solution tnx.

a natural 2 billion year old nuclear reactor was found arfrica http://www.discover.com/web-exclusives/natures-nuclear-reactor0204/ What I think is intersting about is that each nuclear reaction lasted exactllay 30 min not 25 not 32 but exactally 30 min.

I recently came upon a reference to http://www.focusfusion.org, which led me to discover http://www.prometheus2.net and http://www.electronpowersystems.com. What these companies have in common is they propose to generate power using "clean" proton-boron fusion in a pulsed reactor. By pulsed, I...

I have a problem that has a common core and two wound coils. The core is square with sides A and D opposite and C and B opposite. Side A and D have the same cross sectional area and side C & B have the same cross sectional area. Sides C and B have the coil around them. I know the current in...

does an electrostatically confined plasma fed tritium produce energetic e3nough neutrons to create tritium if allowed to irradiate deutrium ?