Eli5: What causes a nuclear core to go super critical?
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There’s 3 states, sub critical, critical, and super critical.
When you hit uranium 235 with a neutron hard enough, it undergoes fission and some of the products include 3 neutrons that can go off and start fission in other atoms.
There’s also control rods made of materials that can absorb neutrons into their nuclei while remaining stable.
How many control rods you add controls the speed at which the reaction takes place.
Sub critical means not every fission causes another atom to undergo fission. The reaction is slowing down and will eventually stop.
Critical means every fission causes exactly one atom to undergo fission. The reaction is stable and staying at exactly the same speed.
Super critical means that every fission causes more than one atom to undergo fission. The reaction is speeding up.
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