How nuclear power works
A nuclear power plant is really like a large kettle, a kettle that forms steam that makes turbines spin around and ultimately produces electricity. What is a little special, however, is the fuel we use to make the water boil!
How we generate electricity
It's all really about converting one kind of energy into another - because it's so that energy can never disappear ... it just transforms!
Nuclear fission
It all starts inside the atomic nuclei! The nuclear fission process begins with a neutron hitting a uranium nucleus. The uranium nucleus is divided and then heat and new neutrons are released which in turn can divide other uranium nuclei. A chain reaction has started!
The reactor
When the nuclear fission has started inside the reactor, water is heated so that it starts to boil.
The turbines
The hot steam formed in the reactor is led through steam lines to the turbine where the steam's heat energy is converted into mechanical energy.