Why do nuclear power plants produce so much energy?

Question

If nuclear power plants boil water to turn a turbine to make energy then why do they make more energy than a coal power plant that does the same?

In: 28

Answer 1

Because one kilo of nuclear fuel produces thousands of times more heat than one kilo of coal. Therefore a coal power plant would need to burn thousands of times more fuel than a nuclear power plant to produce the same amount of power. And that’s basically what they do, a nuclear power plant and a coal power plant overall produce comparable amounts of power. It’s just that a nuclear power plant does that with relatively little actual nuclear fuel which only has to be replaced roughly once a year. While coal power plants burn through massive amounts of coal which has to be fed into the furnace more or less constantly, usually with a conveyor belt from a huge heap of coal nearby, and that heap has to be replenished frequently by trainloads of coal.