Portal:Nuclear technology
The Nuclear Technology Portal
Introduction
- gun sights. (Full article...)
- nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium in nuclear power plants. Nuclear decay processes are used in niche applications such as radioisotope thermoelectric generators in some space probes such as Voyager 2. Generating electricity from fusion power remains the focus of international research. (Full article...)
- A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb types release large quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. (Full article...)
General images -
-
J. Robert Oppenheimer, principal leader of the Manhattan Project, often referred to as the "father of the atomic bomb". (from Nuclear weapon)
-
An example of an induced nuclear fission event. A neutron is absorbed by the nucleus of a uranium-235 atom, which in turn splits into fast-moving lighter elements (fission products) and free neutrons. Though both reactors andnuclear weapons rely on nuclear chain reactions, the rate of reactions in a reactor is much slower than in a bomb. (from Nuclear reactor)
-
Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant – a RBMK type (closed 2009) (from Nuclear reactor)The
- In thermal nuclear reactors (LWRs in specific), the coolant acts as a moderator that must slow down the neutrons before they can be efficiently absorbed by the fuel. (from
-
Dry cask storage vessels storing spent nuclear fuel assemblies (from Nuclear power)
-
Lyon, France, in the 1980s. (from Nuclear weapon)Demonstration against nuclear testing in
-
Three of the reactors atradioactive material into the air. (from Nuclear reactor)
-
fission weapon designs (from Nuclear weapon)The two basic
-
The first nuclear weapons wereNagasaki, Japan. They were large and could only be delivered by heavy bomber aircraft (from Nuclear weapon)
-
Life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of electricity supply technologies, median values calculated byIPCC (from Nuclear power)
-
Diablo Canyon – a PWR (from Nuclear reactor)
-
multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG), used in several space missions such as the Curiosity Mars rover (from Nuclear power)The
-
TheSizewell A nuclear power station (from Nuclear reactor)
-
Castle Bravo, the largest nuclear weapon detonated by the U.S., in 1954 (from Nuclear weapon)Mushroom cloud from the explosion of
-
Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on July 7, 2017UN vote on adoption of theYesNoDid not vote(from Nuclear weapon)
-
Calder Hall nuclear power station in the United Kingdom, the world's first commercial nuclear power station. (from Nuclear power)The
-
The now decommissioned United States'MIRVs was to make complete missile defense difficult for an enemy country. (from Nuclear weapon)
- Growth of worldwide nuclear power generation (from
-
The first light bulbs ever lit by electricity generated by nuclear power atEBR-1 at Argonne National Laboratory-West, December 20, 1951. (from Nuclear power)
-
Sumiteru Taniguchi's back injuries taken in January 1946 by a U.S. Marine photographer (from Nuclear weapon)A photograph of
-
neutron is absorbed by a uranium-235 nucleus, turning it briefly into an excited uranium-236 nucleus, with the excitation energy provided by the kinetic energy of the neutron plus the forces that bind the neutron. The uranium-236, in turn, splits into fast-moving lighter elements (fission products) and releases several free neutrons, one or more "prompt gamma rays" (not shown) and a (proportionally) large amount of kinetic energy. (from Nuclear fission)Induced fission reaction. A
-
Vela incident. (from Nuclear weapon)Over 2,000 nuclear tests have been conducted in over a dozen different sites around the world. Red Russia/Soviet Union, blue France, light blue United States, violet Britain, yellow China, orange India, brown Pakistan, green North Korea and light green (territories exposed to nuclear bombs). The Black dot indicates the location of the
-
The basics of theTeller–Ulam design for a hydrogen bomb: a fission bomb uses radiation to compress and heat a separate section of fusion fuel. (from Nuclear weapon)
-
A demilitarized,throw weight missile delivery system ever built. (from Nuclear weapon)
-
Coulomb explosion in the case of a cluster of positively charged nuclei, akin to a cluster of fission fragments. Hue level of coloris proportional to (larger) nuclei charge. Electrons (smaller) on this time-scale are seen only stroboscopically and the hue level is their kinetic energy (from Nuclear fission)Animation of a
-
nuclear arms race between the U.S./NATO and the Warsaw Pact, 1981 (from Nuclear weapon)Protest in Bonn against the
-
Nuclear fuel assemblies being inspected before entering a pressurized water reactor in the United States (from Nuclear power)
-
Montage of an inert test of a United StatesSLBM (submarine launched ballistic missile), from submerged to the terminal, or re-entry phase, of the multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (from Nuclear weapon)
-
Nuclear waste flasks generated by the United States during the Cold War are stored underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. The facility is seen as a potential demonstration for storing spent fuel from civilian reactors. (from Nuclear power)
- Treatment of the interior part of a
- Large stockpile with global range (dark blue), smaller stockpile with global range (medium blue), small stockpile with regional range (light blue). (from
- The status of nuclear power globally (click for legend) (from
-
OTR-21 Tochka missile. Capable of firing a 100-kiloton nuclear warhead a distance of 185 km (from Nuclear weapon)Soviet
-
nuclear power plant. After use, the spent fuel is delivered to a reprocessing plant (2) or to a final repository (3). In nuclear reprocessing 95% of spent fuel can potentially be recycled to be returned to use in a power plant (4). (from Nuclear power)The nuclear fuel cycle begins when uranium is mined, enriched, and manufactured into nuclear fuel (1), which is delivered to a
-
Thecooling towers (from Nuclear power)
-
Primary coolant system showingpressurizer (blue), and pumps (green) in the three coolant loop Hualong One pressurized water reactor design (from Nuclear reactor)
- The "curve of binding energy": A graph of binding energy per nucleon of common isotopes. (from
-
AICBMs are considered destabilizing because they tend to put a premium on striking first. (from Nuclear weapon)
- Schematic of the
- Scaled-down model of
- The
- Share of electricity production from nuclear, 2022 (from
- The guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) receives fuel at sea (FAS) from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73). (from
-
ReactorFukushima accident. (from Nuclear power)
-
Typical composition ofLWR (from Nuclear power)
-
The town ofPripyat abandoned since 1986, with the Chernobyl plant and the Chernobyl New Safe Confinement arch in the distance (from Nuclear power)
-
Thehypocenter. An estimated 39,000 people were killed by the atomic bomb, of whom 23,145–28,113 were Japanese factory workers, 2,000 were Korean slave laborers, and 150 were Japanese combatants. (from Nuclear fission)
- Core of
-
Ukrainian workers use equipment provided by the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency to dismantle a Soviet-era missile silo. After the end of the Cold War, Ukraine and the other non-Russian, post-Soviet republics relinquished Soviet nuclear stockpiles to Russia. (from Nuclear weapon)
-
Las Vegas shows a mushroom cloud in the background. Scenes such as this were typical during the 1950s. From 1951 to 1962 the government conducted 100 atmospheric tests at the nearby Nevada Test Site. (from Nuclear weapon)This view of downtown
-
Anti-nuclear weapons protest march in Oxford, 1980 (from Nuclear weapon)
-
Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant in Switzerland (from Nuclear power)The
-
United States andnuclear weapons stockpiles, 1945–2006. The Megatons to Megawatts Program was the main driving force behind the sharp reduction in the quantity of nuclear weapons worldwide since the cold war ended. (from Nuclear power)
-
TheHindu scripture Bhagavad Gita: "If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one "... "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds". (from Nuclear weapon)
-
Some of theLeó Szilárd (from Nuclear reactor)
-
TheManhattan project (from Nuclear reactor)
- Anti-nuclear protest near
-
uranium ore over time (from Nuclear power)Activity of spent UOx fuel in comparison to the activity of natural
- A visual representation of an induced nuclear fission event where a slow-moving neutron is absorbed by the nucleus of a uranium-235 atom, which fissions into two fast-moving lighter elements (fission products) and additional neutrons. Most of the energy released is in the form of the kinetic velocities of the fission products and the neutrons. (from
- Most waste packaging, small-scale experimental fuel recycling chemistry and
-
USS Nautilus January 1954. In 1958 it would become the first vessel to reach the North Pole. (from Nuclear power)The launching ceremony of the
-
Following the 2011nuclear accident since 1986, 50,000 households were displaced after radiation leaked into the air, soil and sea. Radiation checks led to bans of some shipments of vegetables and fish. (from Nuclear power)
-
TheUSSR and United States nuclear weapon stockpiles throughout the Cold War until 2015, with a precipitous drop in total numbers following the end of the Cold War in 1991. (from Nuclear weapon)
-
Superphénix, closed in 1998, was one of the few FBRs. (from Nuclear reactor)The
-
TheCANDU Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant (from Nuclear reactor)
-
zircaloy cladding. (from Nuclear reactor)
-
Olkiluoto 3 under construction in 2009. It was the first EPR, a modernized PWR design, to start construction. (from Nuclear power)
-
An assortment of American nuclearLGM-30G Minuteman III, LGM-118 Peacekeeper, LGM-30A/B/F Minuteman I or II, PGM-19 Jupiter (from Nuclear weapon)
-
Torness nuclear power station – an AGR (from Nuclear reactor)The
-
International Atomic Energy Agency was created in 1957 to encourage peaceful development of nuclear technology while providing international safeguards against nuclear proliferation. (from Nuclear weapon)The
-
uranium-238 and does not continue the reaction. Another neutron is simply lost and does not collide with anything, also not continuing the reaction. However, the one neutron does collide with an atom of uranium-235, which then fissions and releases two neutrons and some binding energy. 3. Both of those neutrons collide with uranium-235 atoms, each of which fissions and releases between one and three neutrons, which can then continue the reaction. (from Nuclear fission)A schematic nuclear fission chain reaction. 1. A uranium-235 atom absorbs a neutron and fissions into two new atoms (fission fragments), releasing three new neutrons and some binding energy. 2. One of those neutrons is absorbed by an atom of
-
Ballistic missile submarines have been of great strategic importance for the United States, Russia, and other nuclear powers since they entered service in the Cold War, as they can hide from reconnaissance satellites and fire their nuclear weapons with virtual impunity. (from Nuclear weapon)
-
Proportions of the isotopesCANDU reactors work with natural uranium. (from Nuclear power)
- Death rates from air pollution and accidents related to energy production, measured in deaths in the past per terawatt hours (TWh) (from
-
Edward Teller, often referred to as the "father of the hydrogen bomb" (from Nuclear weapon)
-
nuclear force attraction distance, then are pushed apart and away by their electrical charge. In the liquid drop model, the two fission fragments are predicted to be the same size. The nuclear shell model allows for them to differ in size, as usually experimentally observed. (from Nuclear fission)The stages of binary fission in a liquid drop model. Energy input deforms the nucleus into a fat "cigar" shape, then a "peanut" shape, followed by binary fission as the two lobes exceed the short-range
-
A comparison of prices over time for energy from nuclear fission and from other sources. Over the presented time, thousands of wind turbines and similar were built on assembly lines in mass production resulting in an economy of scale. While nuclear remains bespoke, many first of their kind facilities added in the timeframe indicated and none are in serial production. Our World in Data notes that this cost is the global average, while the 2 projects that drove nuclear pricing upwards were in the US. The organization recognises that theLCOE is a measure of the average net present cost of electricity generation for a generating plant over its lifetime. As a metric, it remains controversial as the lifespan of units are not independent but manufacturer projections, not a demonstrated longevity. (from Nuclear power)
-
Fission product yields by mass forthorium cycle. (from Nuclear fission)
-
Deutsches Museum in Munich. The table and instruments are originals, but would not have been together in the same room. (from Nuclear fission)The nuclear fission display at the
-
Chicago Pile-1. (from Nuclear fission)Drawing of the first artificial reactor,
Selected article -
The contamination of the Denver area by plutonium from the fires and other sources was not publicly reported until the 1970s. According to a 1972 study coauthored by Edward Martell, "In the more densely populated areas of Denver, the Pu contamination level in surface soils is several times fallout", and the plutonium contamination "just east of the Rocky Flats plant ranges up to hundreds of times that from nuclear tests." As noted by Carl Johnson in Ambio, "Exposures of a large population in the Denver area to plutonium and other radionuclides in the exhaust plumes from the plant date back to 1953."
Weapons production at the plant was halted after a combined FBI and EPA raid in 1989 and years of protests. The plant has since been shut down, with its buildings demolished and completely removed from the site. The Rocky Flats Plant was declared a Superfund site in 1989 and began its transformation to a cleanup site in February 1992. Removal of the plant and surface contamination was largely completed in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Nearly all underground contamination was left in place, and measurable radioactive environmental contamination in and around Rocky Flats will probably persist for thousands of years. The land formerly occupied by the plant is now the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge. Plans to make this refuge accessible for recreation have been repeatedly delayed due to lack of funding and protested by citizen organizations.
The Department of Energy continues to fund monitoring of the site, but private groups and researchers remain concerned about the extent and long-term public health consequences of the contamination. Estimates of the public health risk caused by the contamination vary significantly, with accusations that the United States government is being too secretive and that citizen activists are being alarmist. (Full article...)
Selected picture -
Did you know?
- ... that after journalist Adele Ferguson's criticism of the U.S. Navy's sex discrimination attracted nationwide attention, she was offered a personal tour of a nuclear submarine?
- ... that coral cores from Flinders Reef capture environmental changes caused by the use of nuclear weapons?
- ... that molten salt reactor and a quantum computer?
- ... that plutonium produced in the nuclear reactors at the Hanford Engineer Works was used in the Fat Man bomb used in the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in August 1945?
- ... that during World War II, pilot G. E. Clements was removed from training for secret missions associated with the Manhattan Project when senior officers realized she was a woman?
- ... that the sodium fast reactor Fermi 1 suffered a nuclear meltdown that led one operator to suggest "we almost lost Detroit"?
Related WikiProjects
Things you can do
Parts of this portal (those related to section) need to be updated. Please help update this portal to reflect recent events or newly available information. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. (September 2021) |
Here are some
Open Tasks :
|
Selected biography -
During
In 1933, Conant became the President of Harvard University with a reformist agenda that involved dispensing with a number of customs, including class rankings and the requirement for Latin classes. He abolished
Conant was appointed to the
In his later years at Harvard, Conant taught undergraduate courses on the history and philosophy of science, and wrote books explaining the scientific method to laymen. In 1953, he retired as President of Harvard University and became the United States High Commissioner for Germany, overseeing the restoration of German sovereignty after World War II, and then was Ambassador to West Germany until 1957.
On returning to the United States, Conant criticized the education system in
Nuclear technology news
- 22 March 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- The Dnieper Hydroelectric Station in Zaporizhzhia is hit by a missile causing extensive damage and a large fire. A trolleybus initially reported as carrying civilians was destroyed in the attack, later confirmed to have been empty apart from the driver who was killed. Shelling also damages one of the two power lines connected to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. (The Guardian) (The Kyiv Independent)
- 14 March 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant crisis
- Russian-installed officials at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar, Ukraine, say that shelling has hit critical infrastructure at the plant and that "such attacks are unacceptable". (Reuters)
- 28 February 2024 –
- nuclear states to negotiate a "no first use" treaty. China and India are currently the only two nuclear powers to formally maintain a no first use policy. (Reuters)
Related portals
Related topics
Subcategories
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus