What kind of uranium is used in nuclear power plants

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Also in Hydrogen explained Hydrogen Production of hydrogen Use of hydrogen. The United States imports most of the uranium it uses as fuel Uranium is the fuel most widely used by nuclear power plants for nuclear fission. Sources and shares of total U. Also on Energy Explained U. Frequently asked questions How much electricity does a nuclear power plant generate? FAQs on nuclear energy. Here, a huge amount of heat energy is released due to this reaction. Uranium, used as fuels, comes with pellets and is kept within metal tubes.

These metal tubes are known as fuel rods. Many fuel rods are bundled to make a ready fuel and kept inside the reactor core. Water is used as a coolant and the fuel rods are immersed in the water.

Nos of fuel rods depends on the capacity requirements of the nuclear power plant. Nuclear power plants are classified based on the type of nuclear reactors are used. A pressurized water reactor is the most common type of reactor used in nuclear power plants.

In this reactor, two circuits are used to produce steam:. Boiling water reactors is also widely used to generate power in a lot of places.

There are various components in the Nuclear Power Plant, however, brief details for the main components are described for better understanding. Nuclear reactors are the primary components in all kinds of nuclear power plants. It is simply the heart of the nuclear power plant.

We have seen the thermal power plant, where the boiler is used to produce heat. Coal is normally used as a fossil fuel to generate electricity. In a nuclear power plant, nuclear reactors are used as boilers like thermal power plants , and uranium is used as fuel to generate electricity. Nuclear chain reaction i. This fusion process produces heat. This heat is transferred from the nuclear reactor core to coolants i.

Water is commonly used as a coolant. Now the water takes the heat and is circulated to the steam generator by reactor coolant pumps to produce steam. It is a rigid structure that houses the reactor, steam generator, coolant system, and all related components. Uranium is used so that fusion takes place. Uranium is the source of energy as well as neutrons so that chain reaction will be continued. It looks like cylindrical pills come within metallic rods.

Moderator is used to slow down the generation of neutrons. It reduces the fission process as well as chain reactions. In a nuclear reactor, the pressurizer is an important part to control pressure. It is placed in the primary coolant circuit. Control of steam production and balancing of the liquid stage and the steam stage is done by the pressurizer. Hot water from the reactor core needs to be circulated to the steam generator. This circulation is done by coolant circulation pump or reactor coolant pumps or RCV.

It is basically a heat exchanger. Hot water from the primary circuit comes in this steam generator and produces steam. Steam from the steam generator comes into the turbine through a steam line or steam pipe.

A condenser is used as a heat exchanger and it consists of a set of tubes. Exhaust steam from the turbine is required to cool for further use. Uranium occurs naturally in low concentrations in soil, rock and water, and is commercially extracted from uranium-bearing minerals such as uraninite.

Uranium ore can be mined from open pits or underground excavations. The ore can then be crushed and treated at a mill to separate the valuable uranium from the ore. Uranium may also be dissolved directly from the ore deposits in the ground in-situ leaching and pumped to the surface.

Uranium mined from the earth is stored, handled, and sold as uranium oxide concentrate U 3 O 8. Uranium was discovered in by Martin Klaproth, a German chemist, who isolated an oxide of uranium while analyzing pitchblende samples from the Joachimsthal silver mines in the former Kingdom of Bohemia, located in the present day Czech Republic.

Uranium is referred to as a fissile element because it is capable of undergoing fission. For many years, uranium was used primarily as a colorant for ceramic glazes and for tinting in early photography.