They explained how a power plant works in the Chernobyl mini-series. One part that got me thinking is how they use the energy from the fission to heat up that generate the steam which in turn run the turbin and give electricity (Correct me if i’m wrong).
What I don’t understand is why can’t the raw energy from the fission directly be used instead of going the whole cycle? What kind of energy is released from the fission and why can’t it be stored in a battery or capacitor-like thing?
In: Physics
Fission works by splitting atoms. Uranium has very heavy atoms (lots of neutrons, subatomic particles). It takes a lot of energy to hold atoms together. The bigger they are, the less stable they are. It’s like a Jenga tower, where the taller it gets, the more likely it is to tip over. The atoms are made even more unstable by bombarding them with neutrons. The neutrons either bounce off or stick, causing it to become more massive and unstable.
This causes the atom to do one of a few things. The most desirable action being fission, or a splitting of the atom. When the atom splits, it releases the energy(gamma radiation mostly) that was required to hold such a massive atom together, plus some smaller atoms and neutrons. These neutrons are released with high speed and collide with other uranium atoms continuing this reaction.
Due to all this collision and energy release taking place, it generates heat from speeding up the surrounding particles. After all, heat is mostly just an increased speed of particles.
This heat is transferred into a fluid, typically water, which generates steam, which propels a turbine, which creates electricity.
TLDR: The atom explodes from being massive causing water to heat up which makes steam and generates electricity through turbines
Latest Answers