Jellyfish swarm forces France's largest nuclear plant to shut down
Jellyfish swarm forces France's largest nuclear plant to shut down
www.france24.com
Jellyfish swarm forces France's largest nuclear plant to shut down
7 comments
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I never really got what it means to "shutdown" a nuclear reactor. It's not like there's a switch to stop the nuclear reaction(?), I guess you stop "feeding" it more uranium or whatsoever but you still need to cool it down and therefore you'll still produce energy.
Actually I never really looked up how nuclear plants works😅
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Nuclear reactor works with a human controlled chain reaction by keeping bar of radioactive material close enough to have a chain reaction. If you increase the distances or block the neutrons between the fuel bar, you only get moderately radioactive material, not the kind of stuff I want to work near off, but not the kind of stuff releasing enough energy to need a heavy cooling chain.
Typically this is done with carbon rods going between the fuel rods. However, in case of emergency boron can be added to the water to block the neutron.
Obligatory while I have experience in nuclear sciences, I never worked in a power plant, so my answer might not be fully accurate
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You're close enough. The reaction requires slow neutrons though, remember?
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I think they might stop the boilers so that if there's a problem they can evacuate more quickly, without having to go back, but I am also not familiar with nuclear power plants other than a college project and a visit to a reactor a looong time ago
Edit: I was wrong of course
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U6Nzcv9Vws
This seems a decent short explanation.
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7 comments
They’re just trying to get super powers from the toxic sludge
The "Blasto!" origin story we have been waiting for, for 18 years?