How Does A Nuclear Reactor Generate Electricity

We begin by looking at an electric motor.

How does a nuclear reactor generate electricity.

That s an incredible stat given the fact that there are just 98 nuclear reactors operating in the united states. That s right 59 nuclear power plants located in 30 states are fueling the future with reliable electricity that we can use every day and all the time. Let s begin at the end and see how it all fits together. Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions that release nuclear energy to generate heat which most frequently is then used in steam turbines to produce electricity in a nuclear power plant nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions.

Nuclear plants are different because they do not burn anything to create steam. The ringhals nuclear power plant home to four reactors capable of generating 20 of sweden s electricity demand image. They contain and control nuclear chain reactions that produce heat through a physical process called fission. How does a nuclear reactor generate electricity.

Ginna nuclear power plant actually generated at total of 4 689 440 mwh. Nuclear power plants have supplied about 20 of total annual u s. Presently the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by nuclear fission of uranium. The amount of electricity that a power plant generates over a period of time depends on the amount of time it operates at a specific capacity.

A motor consists primarily of two major components. A stator which stands still and a rotor which rotates within the stator. Did you know that 20 of america s electricity comes from nuclear power. However most power plants do not operate a full capacity every hour of every day of the year.

If the reactor generated that amount of electricity every day of the year it would generate 5 098 320 mwh. As of january 1 2020 96 nuclear reactors were operating at 58 nuclear power plants in 29 states. With more than 450 commercial reactors worldwide including 95 in the united states nuclear power continues to be one of the largest sources of reliable. When electricity is applied to the motor electromagnets within the.

Coal natural gas oil and nuclear energy use their fuel to turn water into steam and use that steam to turn the turbine. The palo verde nuclear power plant in arizona is the largest nuclear power plant in the united states with three reactors and a total electricity generating capacity 1 of about 3 937 mw. In most power plants you need to spin a turbine to generate electricity. Vattenfall a nuclear reactor is driven by the splitting of atoms a process called fission where a particle a neutron is fired at an atom which then fissions into two smaller atoms and some additional neutrons.

How is nuclear energy used to produce electricity. Thirty five of the plants have two or more reactors. Nuclear power plants have generated about 20 of u s.