How Does a Nuclear Power Plant Work

In a nuclear reactor, represented in the Figure above, the fuel rods are surrounded by liquid water. Control rods are
used to adjust the rate of the chain reactions. These rods absorb some of the free neutrons produced by fission. Moving these
rods into and out of the reactor can control the number of neutrons that are available to continue the chain reaction. Chain
reactions that occur in reactors can be very dangerous if they are not controlled. An example of the danger that nuclear reactors
can create is the accident that happened at the Chernobyl reactor in the Ukraine in 1986. This accident occurred when
technicians briefly removed most of the reactor’s control rods during a safety test. However, most nuclear reactors have
mechanisms that can prevent most accidents.
(1) As shown in the Figure above, water in the Reactor Core is heated by the energy released from the controlled
fission of uranium-235. (2)It then passes through the Primary Water Circuit into the (3)Steam Generator where it is changed
from hot water into steam. (4)The steam pushes the wheels in a turbine to turn (5)which produces electrical energy in the
Electric Generator. (Electricity is created in the Electric Generator when wires are moved through a magnetic field.) The steam
then passes into a condenser and is cooled by water in the cooling tower. The cooled water then returns to the Reactor Core
where it goes through the process again.