Nuclear Fuel

Nuclear fuel is fuel used inside of the nuclear industry broadly. Specifically for Nuclear ReactorNuclear ReactorIn it's most simplest form, a nuclear reactor uses Uranium and other radioactive materials and the fission from uranium to create heat, and transfer that heat into steam to create power. Nuclear reactors are one of the biggest sources of energy, although not renewable, uranium has a very high energy density resulting in massive power transmissions. There are many different types of nuclear reactors, and this term serves as a broad hub/introduction for each type. After uranium is used in reactos, nuclear fuel is necessary for a fissile reaction. As is the name, nuclear fuel is radioactive - it decays over time and releases excess neutrons. This makes it highly energy dense and optimal for the nuclear sector.

Whenever you hear someone talking about nuclear fuel, the first thing you can think about is UraniumUraniumUranium is a naturally occuring element - atomic number of 92 and in the actinides group. Uranium is radioactive - decaying over time and releasing energy. This is the reason why Uranium is the primary source of fuel for Nuclear Reactors. The amount of energy in a single gram of uranium is about 3.5-4.5 tons of coal; around 702 gigajoules - whilst each gram of coal has around .0293 gigajoles of energy; a staggering amount inside of uranium. Isotopes There are three natural isotopes of uranium. Being radioactive in it of itself, after enrichment, enriched uranium is a common nuclear fuel source. U-235 is the most common type although nuclear fuel in general is very diverse and made of many different fuels.

Another type of nuclear fuel is plutonium; generally it can be mixed with uranium naturally or depleted uranium to make a MOX (Mixed OXide) fuel.