Chemical Reaction Behind a Nuclear Power Plant

What do you know about chemical reaction that takes place in a nuclear power plant? Yes of course there will the fission reaction of the uranium to produce power. There are also the neutron capture, which the two are the main process focuses on. But do you know there are also the sides dishes that is essentials in controlling and maintaining the plan? These side reaction are the reaction of the water chemistry as it being used as a coolant for the reactor pure.

Raw Uranium

Uranium plays a very important role in the production of energy through nuclear power. A heavy element located in the Actinide series it has 92 protons as indicated by its atomic number. Uranium has many different isotopes; different configurations of protons and neutrons in its nucleus. Not all of its isotopes are stable. Nuclear Power is produced when a nucleus absorbs a neutron and splits into two lighter nuclei. This releases enormous amounts of energy which in turn produces heat. In fact the Uranium, which is the most common element used to produce nuclear power today, has an energy content about 3 million times greater than that of fossil fuel. Nuclear reactors harness the heat which is produced from the energy released when the atom splits and convert it into electrical energy.

Uranium 239

Neutron capture is a term used for the scenario where a neutron comes close to a nucleus (in this case uranium) and the nucleus captures it and becomes a different nucleus. In this case when uranium-238 captures a neutron it becomes uranium-239. After uranium-239 emits a beta particle (electron) it becomes neptunium-239. Then, neptunium-239 emits a beta particle and becomes plutonium-239. The plutonium can also be used as nuclear fuel.

 Nuclear Reactor Coolant

A nuclear reactor coolant is a coolant in a nuclear reactor used to remove heat from the nuclear reactor core and transfer it to electrical generators and the environment. Frequently, a chain of two coolant loops are used because the primary coolant loop takes on short-term radioactivity from the reactor. Almost all currently operating nuclear power plants are light water reactors using ordinary water under high pressure as coolant and neutron moderator. Heavy water reactors use deuterium oxide which has similar properties to ordinary water but much lower neutron capture, allowing more thorough moderation. However these water also has it bad effects. The effects are the corrosion in coolant circuits. Also it does effect on the corrosion of copper alloys and zirconium at an operating nuclear power plants.