Nuclear power comes from easily controlled and highly controlled nuclear fission but unlike wind and solar power, nuclear energy can provide a stable source of electricity unaffected by changes in weather and at night when there is no sunlight to power solar panels.
Nuclear power plants simply heat water to produce steam. The steam is used to spin large turbines that generate electricity.
In nuclear fission, atoms are split apart to form smaller atoms, releasing energy. Fission takes place inside the reactor of a nuclear power plant. At the center of the reactor is the core, which contains uranium fuel.
The uranium fuel is formed into ceramic pellets. Each ceramic pellet produces about the same amount of energy as 150 gallons of oil. These energy-rich pellets are stacked end-to-end in 12-foot metal fuel rods. A bundle of fuel rods, some with hundreds of rods, is called a fuel assembly. A reactor core contains many fuel assemblies. The fuel rods are each inserted into the reactor and when they are lifted the nuclear reaction occurs. To shut them down they are simply dropped which stops the nuclear reaction.
The heat produced during nuclear fission in the reactor core is used to boil water into steam, which turns the blades of a steam turbine. As the turbine blades turn, they drive generators that make electricity. Nuclear plants cool the steam back into water in a separate structure at the power plant called a cooling tower, or they use water from ponds, rivers, or the ocean. The cooled water is then reused to produce steam.
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