eli5 How does a nuclear reactor in a nuclear power plant work?
In: Engineering
There are lots of designs of reactors which work in completely different ways but the basic principle is the same. Nuclear fuel consists of isotopes of heavy elements like thorium, uranium and plutonium which is able to absorb neutrons and split into smaller atoms releasing a lot of energy and new neutrons. In addition to the fuel a nuclear reactor consists of other elements which acts as neutron reflectors, absorbers and moderators. These change the chance of a neutron getting absorbed by a fuel isotope by reflecting neutrons back into the fuel, absorbing the neutrons so they are not reflected back and slowing down the neutrons increasing their chance of absorbtion. The reactor can be controlled by changing these elements by inserting or removing control rods from the reactor. This way you can control exactly how much heat is produced by the reactor. In order to extract the energy from the reactor it also have some sort of cooling medium flowing through it. Again, different reactors have different designs but this heat is most of the time used to boil water in order to create pressure to force the steam through turbines to generate electricity. The steam which is now at atmospheric pressures is cooled down so it condensates and can be used again. This is why you see cooling towers next to nuclear reactors or they are placed next to a large body of water. In some cases they can also provide heating for nearby houses.
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