What Is Nuclear Fission? | Radioactivity | Physics | FuseSchool
Aug 10, 2023
What Is Nuclear Fission? | Radioactivity | Physics | FuseSchool
How does a nuclear reactor provide energy? What causes a nuclear meltdown? And how do we make this safe?https://twitter.com/fuseschool https://www.facebook.com/fuseschool http://www.gplus.to/FuseSchool [email protected] www.fuseschool.org
Content
3.04 -> a nuclear reactor works by splitting up
5.12 -> large atoms such as uranium
8.24 -> this is known as nuclear fission
11.519 -> these large atoms are very unstable and
13.519 -> can be split up by firing a neutron at
15.519 -> them
18.32 -> they split into smaller atoms and a
20.24 -> number of neutrons
24 -> if we measure the mass of the initial
25.84 -> atom
26.8 -> and the total mass of the products after
28.64 -> the split
30.48 -> there seems to be a discrepancy
33.28 -> some mass seems to be lost
37.68 -> einstein's famous equation
40.399 -> e equals m c squared
42.879 -> shows that this incredibly small amount
45.44 -> of lost mass is converted into a huge
48.559 -> amount of heat energy so we know each
51.44 -> atom splitting up gives off some heat
53.36 -> energy but it gets really exciting when
55.76 -> you put a bunch of these atoms together
57.76 -> as one atom splits up it releases some
60.32 -> energetic neutrons ready to split up
62.239 -> some more atoms which in turn releases
65.119 -> more energetic neutrons which will split
67.84 -> up some more atoms and on and on this is
70.88 -> known as a chain reaction
72.96 -> the problem is if we don't control this
75.119 -> reaction we soon end up with an
77.28 -> incredible amount of heat energy which
79.52 -> is impossible to control resulting in
81.84 -> what is known as a nuclear meltdown
85.84 -> which isn't very useful when trying to
87.68 -> run a power station
90.64 -> to control the rate of reaction we need
92.96 -> a substance which can absorb the
94.479 -> neutrons stopping them from splitting up
96.64 -> other atoms
97.84 -> in a nuclear reactor this is done by
100 -> control rods
102.479 -> when lowered these control rods stop the
104.96 -> reaction if necessary they are built and
107.68 -> positioned in a way that ensures they
110 -> drop into the fuel in the case of an
111.92 -> emergency such as a power cut
114.399 -> during normal operation they are raised
116.96 -> and lowered accordingly to very power
119.28 -> output
120.479 -> the lower they are the lower the rate of
122.479 -> reaction which means a smaller power
124.479 -> output
125.439 -> the higher they are the higher the rate
127.52 -> of reaction which means a greater power
129.84 -> output
131.44 -> with the aid of the control rods and
133.28 -> other design features nuclear reactions
135.76 -> can be regulated meaning there is a
137.599 -> constant production of manageable heat
139.68 -> energy
141.04 -> which then can be used to heat water
143.28 -> into pressurized steam
146.64 -> this is then used to turn turbines
148.56 -> connected to a generator
150.959 -> producing large amounts of electrical
152.879 -> energy
154.48 -> nuclear reactions can release a lot of
156.56 -> energy which can be very dangerous but
158.72 -> because of the ever-growing hunger for
160.4 -> energy scientists are working very very
162.879 -> hard to make this technology safer
166.08 -> and potentially reducing the use of
167.92 -> fossil fuels
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D91T-B-PVE0
