Nuclear reactors are the heart of a nuclear power plant. They contain and control nuclear chain reactions that produce heat through a physical process called fission. . This article is about the working of a nuclear reactor. It explains how reactors contain and control nuclear chain reactions that produce heat through fission, which is used to make steam that spins a turbine to create electricity. The article also mentions two types of light-water reactors operating. . All commercial nuclear reactors in US are light-water reactors using normal water as both coolant and neutron moderator with two types operating PWRs (65%) and BWRs (33%). . The main job of a reactor is to house and control nuclear fission, which produces heat through the process of splitting atoms. This heat is used to make. . Reactors use uranium for fuel processed into small ceramic pellets stacked together into sealed metal tubes called fuel rods. Inside the reactor vessel, the fuel rods are immersed in water which acts as.
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