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Nuclear Reactor - Understanding how it works _ Physics Elearnin
WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en
00:00:00.030 nuclear reactor in this video are going 00:00:03.02000:00:03.030 to learn about the nuclear reactor 00:00:04.74900:00:04.759 nuclear reactors are the modern-day 00:00:07.55000:00:07.560 devices extensively used for power 00:00:10.04000:00:10.050 generation as the traditional fossil 00:00:12.14000:00:12.150 fuels like coal are at the breech of 00:00:15.07900:00:15.089 extinction a nuclear reactor is the 00:00:17.66000:00:17.670 source of intense heat which is in turn 00:00:20.15000:00:20.160 used for generation of power in nuclear 00:00:22.51900:00:22.529 power stations its mechanism is similar 00:00:25.46000:00:25.470 to that of a furnace in a steam 00:00:27.14000:00:27.150 generator the steam is used to drive the 00:00:29.96000:00:29.970 turbines of the electric generator 00:00:31.27900:00:31.289 system the nuclear reactor consists of 00:00:34.67000:00:34.680 three crucial components fuel elements 00:00:37.54000:00:37.550 moderator and control rods fuel elements 00:00:41.95900:00:41.969 come usually in the shape of thin rods 00:00:44.00000:00:44.010 of about one centimeter in diameter and 00:00:46.67000:00:46.680 contain fissionable nuclei like 00:00:48.97000:00:48.980 uranium-235 or uranium 238 these rods 00:00:54.08000:00:54.090 vary a number according to the size of 00:00:56.60000:00:56.610 the reactor in large power reactors 00:00:59.38000:00:59.390 thousands of fuel elements are placed 00:01:01.54900:01:01.559 close to each other this region where 00:01:05.09000:01:05.100 these fuel elements are placed is called 00:01:07.28000:01:07.290 the reactor core these fuel elements are 00:01:10.52000:01:10.530 normally immersed in water which acts as 00:01:12.64900:01:12.659 a moderator the objective of a moderator 00:01:15.67900:01:15.689 is to slow down the energy neutrons a 00:01:17.99000:01:18.000 nuclear reactor which are produced 00:01:19.88000:01:19.890 during the nuclear fission process by 00:01:22.16000:01:22.170 the fuel elements thermal neutrons which 00:01:26.03000:01:26.040 are the neutrons with energy of about 00:01:28.09000:01:28.100 0.04 electron volts are capable of 00:01:31.31000:01:31.320 producing fission reaction with 00:01:33.16000:01:33.170 uranium-235 00:01:34.70000:01:34.710 during the fission reaction process new 00:01:37.37000:01:37.380 neutrons are given out which have 00:01:39.28900:01:39.299 energies of about 1 MeV this is 1 mega 00:01:43.24900:01:43.259 electron volts these neutrons typically 00:01:46.96900:01:46.979 escape from participating in another 00:01:48.64900:01:48.659 fission process as they are accompanied 00:01:51.13900:01:51.149 by enormous energy release in fact the 00:01:54.74000:01:54.750 probability of these neutrons produce 00:01:56.53900:01:56.549 another fission reaction is 500 times 00:01:59.09000:01:59.100 less than that compared to a thermal 00:02:01.03900:02:01.049 Neutron 00:02:02.14900:02:02.159 this is where a moderator is extremely 00:02:04.99900:02:05.009 useful moderators have the capability to 00:02:08.27000:02:08.280 slow down or in other words moderate the 00:02:10.88000:02:10.890 speeds of these high-energy neutrons so 00:02:13.30900:02:13.319 that they can in turn be used for a 00:02:15.22900:02:15.239 chain reaction to trigger multiple 00:02:17.12000:02:17.130 fission reactions of other uranium-235 00:02:20.21000:02:20.220 nuclei commonly ordinary or heavy water 00:02:24.17000:02:24.180 is used as a moderator in nuclear 00:02:26.33000:02:26.340 reactors because of the deuterons 00:02:28.22000:02:28.230 present in them which are capable of 00:02:30.08000:02:30.090 slowing down the neutrons speed water 00:02:33.58900:02:33.599 molecules in the moderator are useful in 00:02:35.63000:02:35.640 slowing down the high-energy neutrons 00:02:37.33900:02:37.349 which leave the fuel element after 00:02:39.50000:02:39.510 nuclear fission these high-energy 00:02:41.72000:02:41.730 neutrons collide with water molecules 00:02:43.61000:02:43.620 thereby losing out on some energy with 00:02:46.43000:02:46.440 every collision and therefore slowing 00:02:48.55900:02:48.569 down substantially a new fission 00:02:51.28900:02:51.299 reaction can now be triggered using this 00:02:53.21000:02:53.220 slow Neutron by striking it with a fuel 00:02:55.78900:02:55.799 element the third and most prominent 00:02:58.81900:02:58.829 part of a nuclear reactor are the 00:03:00.55900:03:00.569 control rods in order to get a steady 00:03:03.19900:03:03.209 output of energy from the nuclear 00:03:05.05900:03:05.069 reactor every single fission reaction 00:03:07.64000:03:07.650 should trigger another fission reaction 00:03:09.55900:03:09.569 and ensure the availability of spare 00:03:11.66000:03:11.670 neutrons released to trigger the chain 00:03:14.00000:03:14.010 reactions by controlling the number of 00:03:17.62900:03:17.639 spare neutrons available at any given 00:03:19.55000:03:19.560 time the rate of nuclear fission chain 00:03:21.97900:03:21.989 reactions can be controlled 00:03:24.06900:03:24.079 this control on the fission reaction can 00:03:27.37900:03:27.389 be maintained using control rods the 00:03:31.12900:03:31.139 main function of the control rods is to 00:03:33.41000:03:33.420 absorb any excess or spare Neutron in 00:03:35.99000:03:36.000 the moderator in order to prevent any 00:03:38.59900:03:38.609 further fission reactions usually such 00:03:42.86000:03:42.870 control rods are made of boron or 00:03:44.93000:03:44.940 cadmium to increase the rate of fission 00:03:49.03900:03:49.049 reactions these rods can be removed from 00:03:51.83000:03:51.840 the moderator a steady output of energy 00:03:55.40000:03:55.410 can must be maintained by inserting or 00:03:57.80000:03:57.810 removing the control rods in the nuclear 00:04:00.71000:04:00.720 reactor now that we know the components 00:04:04.03900:04:04.049 of a nuclear reactor let's understand 00:04:06.68000:04:06.690 the working of a nuclear reactor it's 00:04:09.86000:04:09.870 usually enclosed in a shield made of 00:04:11.96000:04:11.970 thick concrete walls it can 00:04:14.22000:04:14.230 of a reactor core pump and heat 00:04:16.89000:04:16.900 exchanger the reactor core and pump are 00:04:20.12900:04:20.139 placed in contact with the water which 00:04:21.93000:04:21.940 is usually the heat exchanger in these 00:04:23.76000:04:23.770 reactors due to the enormous amount of 00:04:26.43000:04:26.440 heat released during the fusion reaction 00:04:28.53000:04:28.540 the surrounding water gets heated up and 00:04:31.17000:04:31.180 changes to steam which is in turn used 00:04:33.57000:04:33.580 to turn the turbines so huge heat energy 00:04:37.17000:04:37.180 gets converted into electrical energy 00:04:39.65900:04:39.669 water is continuously flown in and out 00:04:42.15000:04:42.160 of the nuclear reactor using the pump so 00:04:45.15000:04:45.160 a nuclear reactor successfully generates 00:04:48.00000:04:48.010 nuclear energy from fission reactions
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