How is nuclear fuel transported?

From the reactor site, used fuel is transported by road, rail, or sea to either an interim storage site or a reprocessing plant. Used fuel assemblies are shipped in Type B casks which are shielded with steel, or a combination of steel and lead.

How do nuclear reactors keep the nuclear fuel rods inside the core cool?

The approach to cooling is very simple: push water past the nuclear core and carry the heat somewhere else. The chain reaction that actually runs the reactor can be shut off in a matter of seconds. What’s left over in the core, the radioactive material, will continue to give off heat for a long time.

How is the spent fuel allowed to cool?

The spent fuel pool is cooled by an attached cooling system. The system keeps fuel temperatures low enough that, even if cooling were lost, operators would have substantial time to recover cooling before boiling could occur in the spent fuel pool.

How do nuclear cooling systems work?

Most nuclear power (and other thermal) plants with recirculating cooling are cooled by water in a condenser circuit with the hot water then going to a cooling tower. This may employ either natural draft (chimney effect) or mechanical draft using large fans (enabling a much lower profile but using power*).

How is nuclear energy transported to homes?

The same commercial power grid carries electricity from nuclear and fossil-fuel plants as well as renewable sources. A series of power distribution lines carries the electricity from the sources to the end users, including homes, commercial customers, government and industry.

How does a nuclear reactor cooling tower work?

Cooling towers provide an energy efficient and environmentally friendly way of removing heat from this circulating water before it is returned to its source. The cooler water then returns to the plant and condenses steam back into water in the condenser and the entire cycle is repeated.

How long do nuclear fuel rods take to cool down?

They’re all hot and radioactive, right? These fuel rods have to be cooled for anywhere between five to 10 years before they’re safe enough to be taken out of these pools and put into dry cast storage.

Why are nuclear fuel rods stored in water?

Spent fuel from nuclear reactors is highly radioactive. Water is good for both radiation shielding and cooling, so fuel is stored at the bottom of pools for a couple decades until it’s inert enough to be moved into dry casks. The most highly radioactive fuel rods are those recently removed from a reactor.

What happens nuclear fuel rods?

When fuel rods in a nuclear reactor are “spent,” or no longer usable, they are removed from the reactor core and replaced with fresh fuel rods. The fuel assemblies, which consist of dozens to hundreds of fuel rods each, are moved to pools of water to cool.

Why are nuclear reactors in water?

Reactors use uranium for nuclear fuel. Inside the reactor vessel, the fuel rods are immersed in water which acts as both a coolant and moderator. The moderator helps slow down the neutrons produced by fission to sustain the chain reaction.