How Does A Nuclear Reactor Generate Electricity

A stator which stands still and a rotor which rotates within the stator.

How does a nuclear reactor generate electricity.

They contain and control nuclear chain reactions that produce heat through a physical process called fission. 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. As of january 1 2020 96 nuclear reactors were operating at 58 nuclear power plants in 29 states. We begin by looking at an electric motor.

That heat is used to make steam that spins a turbine to create electricity. Nuclear plants are different because they do not burn anything to create steam. If the reactor generated that amount of electricity every day of the year it would generate 5 098 320 mwh. In most power plants you need to spin a turbine to generate electricity.

When electricity is applied to the motor electromagnets within the. Ginna nuclear power plant actually generated at total of 4 689 440 mwh. That s an incredible stat given the fact that there are just 98 nuclear reactors operating in the united states. How is nuclear energy used to produce electricity.

The ringhals nuclear power plant home to four reactors capable of generating 20 of sweden s electricity demand image. Nuclear power reactors generally operate at or near. How does a nuclear reactor generate electricity. Thirty five of the plants have two or more reactors.

Did you know that 20 of america s electricity comes from nuclear power. 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. Presently the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by nuclear fission of uranium. A motor consists primarily of two major components.

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. 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. Let s begin at the end and see how it all fits together. However most power plants do not operate a full capacity every hour of every day of the year.

In 2018 the r e. 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. Nuclear power plants have supplied about 20 of total annual u s.