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Nuclear Electricity
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Question:
In brief, what is nuclear electricity?
Replies:
Electricity generated from a nuclear reactor.
Dr. Myron
That's not a term I normally hear, but I suppose that it refers to
electricity generated from nuclear power. Most electric generators operate
by moving coils of wire through a magnetic field (or vice versa); in the
case of nuclear power, the energy for moving the coils of wire comes from
nuclear fission reactions, in which large atomic nuclei split into two
smaller nuclei, releasing heat in the process. The heat is used to
generate steam, which drives the generator, just as the heat of burning
coal or oil is used to drive generators in other power plants.
Richard Barrans Jr., Ph.D.
Hi,
I suppose you mean electricity produced by nuclear power.
If so, here how it goes.
To produce electricity and sent it into power lines to get to your home,
here is what they do at the electric generating station.
They often burn coal, oil, or natural gas to heat up water, turn it into
steam, use its power to rotate the blades of a turbine, and produce
electricity (as in a dynamo).
In a nuclear power plant, one uses nuclear material instead of oil or coal
to heat up the water.
For more information on electricity, try this website:
http://www.bc.sympatico.ca/Contents/Learning/Discovery/subjects/science.html
Good luck.
Dr. Ali Khounsary
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Update: June 2012
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