The electrical power output of a large nuclear reactorfacility is 900 MW. It has a 35.0% efficiency in convertingnuclear power to electrical.(a) What is the thermal nuclear power output in megawatts?(b) How many 235U nuclei fission each second, assumingthe average fission produces 200 MeV?(c) What mass of 235U is fissioned in one year of full-poweroperation?
Nuclear Fission
Nuclear fission is a type of nuclear reaction in which heavier nuclei split into lighter nuclei by releasing a large quantity of energy. The elements like uranium-235 and plutonium-239 isotope undergo nuclear fission releasing energy. When nuclei undergo fission, some quantity of mass is lost. The lost mass is converted to nuclear energy. Nuclear fission reaction is used in nuclear power plants and atomic bombs. In nuclear power plants, nuclear reactors are used to generate electricity.
Endothermic Nuclear Reaction
A nuclear reaction can be described as a process where two atoms, or two nuclei or nucleus and subatomic particles such as a proton, neutron interact together, and a large amount of energy is produced and new elements are also produced.
The electrical power output of a large nuclear reactor
facility is 900 MW. It has a 35.0% efficiency in converting
nuclear power to electrical.
(a) What is the thermal nuclear power output in megawatts?
(b) How many 235U nuclei fission each second, assuming
the average fission produces 200 MeV?
(c) What mass of 235U is fissioned in one year of full-power
operation?
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