Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Nuclear - Coggle Diagram
Nuclear
-
-
New Technology
Polymer absorbtion
There is more urianium in the sea then on land. Japan is researching ways on extracting the uranium in the sea.
Phosphate mining
Uranium is often present in phosphate deposits and can be separated from the material extracted in phosphate mines.
-
Molten Salts
Instead of using water as a coolant, they use molten (liquid) salt. Liquid salt does does not have to be pressurised to stay cool or liquid- this makes it work more efficiently because the reactor can operate at higher temperatures. Although there are also gas-cooled reactors, molten salt reactors are smaller, and therefore cheaper to build.
Plutonium Reactors
Uranium 238 is a fertile fuel. This means that although it is not a fissile fuel, it can be converted into a fissile fuel if it is bombarded with neutrons. As U 238 is more abundant than U 235, it is mined, and converted to plutonium 239 to use in a fission reactor. These are known as breeder reactors as they release energy for electricity and they produce more new fissile fuel than they use.
The fission of plutonium does not require the neutrons to be slowed down by a moderator so they are often called fast reactors or fast breeder reactors.
Thorium Reactors
Thorium 232 is also a fertile fuel. It can be converted to Uranium 233 which is fissile. New plans for Thorium reactors include two different fuel rods. Thorium 232 to ‘breed’ Uranium, and Uranium 233 fuel rods which will create energy though ongoing chain reactions.
Fission
-
As Uranium and Plutonium are such large atoms, large amounts of energy are released when fission occurs.
-
-
-
-
Fusion
The joining of the nuclei of small atoms, such as the isotopes hydrogen 2 and hydrogen 3.
Only nuclear fission is commercially viable at the moment, fusion being a research project.
-
