How exactly does nuclear power plants work? How are they able to generate electricity using radioactive things?
In: Physics
There is orders of magnitude more energy in nuclear fission than in e.g. burning coal. Energy that will be released mostly as heat. A WHOLE LOT of heat. This heat boils water in a pressurized system which makes it become very pressurized steam that is, like in all fossil power plants, used to drive a turbine coupled to a generator.
The principle is the same as in coal plants, but it’s also way more difficult to control an ongoing nuclear fission without releasing too much energy at once, but also not choking it off. There’s actually a very narrow window of how much fisisons per time is safe and stable to handle. It’s like slowly riding a rocket through a school zone.
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