why do we use necular reactors instead of Thallium one?
610070
Thallium doesn't have any fissile isotopes so it'd be useless as a form of energy.  If it is Thorium that you were refering to (as santosh_k suggested, pity most of the rest of his answer is nonsense) then a Thorium Breeder is actually a nuclear reactor so the question to ask would be why we use Uranium instead of Thorium as the fuel for our nuclear reactors.\n\nThe first reason is that Uranium from the ground is useful after some processing while with Thorium we have to run it through a reactor to breed Uranium 233 (which you won't find much of in the ground but is quite good at running a reactor).  If you can get more Thorium 232 to convert to Uranium 233 then you can create more fuel than you consume which is what a Thorium reactor does (at first you'd use Uranium 235 from the ground as the fuel).  The Canadian reactor design is well suited to use as a Thorium breeder and the Indians are looking very closely at the technology because they have little Uranium but a lot of Thorium, the US also operate a Light Water Thorium breeder.\n\nMost Breeder research has been in Liquid Metal cooled fast breeders which produce Plutonium 239 from Uranium 238 (while the Thorium breeders produce Uranium 233 from Thorium 232).
1071812
dont quote me on this its been a while since this was explainded to me. atomic energy is the energy created when atoms are split,and nucleur energy is when the nucleus of the atom is split.or something to that effect. nucleur power is more complex and yeilds more energ output than atomic energy which is why we use Nucleur rather than atomic
196869
You get an antineutrino from the decay of a neutron, giving a proton, an electron and an antineutrino. The reason you get those decays is that heavy nuclei (like Uranium, Plutonium) have many more neutrons than protons. Light stable nuclei have about the same number of protons as neutrons. So after a heavy nucleus undergoes fission, you get lighter nuclei with too many neutrons compared to protons. It is energetically good for them to change some of the neutrons into protons through beta decay. Hope it helps.
377216
Russia, then the U.S.S.R., uses graphite based fission reactors, as opposed to the U.S. design.  Human error caused the incident.  The second post to your question is a decent description as to the chain of events.
761199
Although there is a general trend toward an increase in the first ionization energy as we go from left to right across this row, there are two minor inversions in this pattern. The first ionization energy of boron is smaller than beryllium, and the first ionization energy of oxygen is smaller than nitrogen.\n\nTo read about why, follow the link. It's really hard to explain
730866
They are different elements. \n\nNo element of higher atomic number than uranium (92) occurs naturally because they are all radioactive and decay over time.\n\nPlutonium is a transuranic element atomic number 94 that is a by product from nuclear reactors.\n\nOnly some isotopes of uranium are fissile (U 238 is stable). Plutonium is always fissile, and so is more useful and more potent in atomic weapons.
477357
all the difference is, is that the radioactive material is giving off electromagnetic waves because it has been charged by something that gave off a large amount of magnetic waves, such as the sun... radiation is just another form of heat/energy, and it is just radiating the heat/energy it has gotten, and when it gets rid of the energy, it will stop radiating...and unstable materials, react with other elements, like if u drop lithium in water, boom, because it has not enough valence electrons and is lower on the periodic table, so it tries to bond with others to get/give valance electrons
67099
In Japan a few years ago the workers at one facility were carrying radioactive solutions in buckets from one place to another where they put so much of it that it started having nuclear reactions from reaching a critical amount.  This was amazing news, but it happens that the people doing mundane, dirty, or high exposure work often know little and are only following or misfollowing instructions of more knowledgeable scientists who are not always there to prevent mistakes.\n\nAlso, one time in the USA, out west, a man was working on a reactor and, they say, everyone had been told not to remove a certain vital control rod.  But he did, and instantly the reactor exploded, releasing radioactive contaminants inside the containment.  The mans body was found on the ceiling impaled by the control rod.\n\nThat sounds like a made up story, I know, but I have heard it told about three times from VERY reputable and different sources.\n\nAnother time was during the testing of fissionable materials in the laboratory at Los Alamos where the first atom bombs were developed.\n\nOne scientist was investigating critical mass by bringing two hemispheres or pieces of fissionable materials slowly closer to each other on some kind of track.  He got them too close and did not get them apart fast enough.  The radiation exposure was so intense he died shortly after that, also I believe one other person who was in the room.
234617
the water actually in with the uranium is in a closed circuit,  which when it gets heated by the rods boils in the reactor itself.  the steam goes through a pipe and the pipe heats another closed system of water.  This second system is not exposed to the radiation and this is what goes through the turbines and cooling tower.  This is so the turbines and all other external parts of the plant don't get exposed to radiation.  This is the reason why properly working nuclear power plants give off less radiation than coal plants.
389789
All transuranic elements (elements with an atomic number greater than 92) are unstable, some of their isotopes more so than others, and they aren't found in nature, only as a result of bombardment in particle accelerators or as byproducts of nuclear fission reactors or atomic bombs.\n\nEinstein was involved in the theoretical physics which led to the Los Alamos project to build an atomic bomb, before Hitler could build one. It was the Danish physicist, Nils Bohr, who first split the atom, however.\n\nSome elements are named after people (Fermi, Einstein, Curie) and some after places (Berkely, California) who/which were influenrial or important in the development of transuranic elements.
34569
When transuranic elements decay, the produce lots of energy. Some of this energy is in the form of photons. These photons are basicly particles of light, exept they are to high frequency to see. As such, they are very dangerous, because they can damage DNA which can lead to cancer.
632992
Centrifuge is used in purifying Uranium (U). When they get Raw Uranium, they need to purify it inorder to use that in Nuclear reactors.\nJust like you remove Butter from Milk, centrifuge uses the centrifugal force and centripetal forces to seperate pure U out of the ore.\nHTH
224064
Do you mean electrical power from a Nuclear power plant?\n\nIn a nuclear power plant, a reactor contains a supply of enriched uranium.  This radioactive material reacts with itself as it decays, producing heat.  This heat is used to heat water into steam, which turns a steam turbine, which turns a generator (much like in a coal burning plant).  Due to concerns over leaks of radioactive material, there is usually two steam/water loops, one that goes through the reactor and then through a heat exchanger to heat the water in the second loop that goes through the turbine.\n\nNewer reactor technology replaces the first water loop with helium gas instead, resulting in an even safer reactor design.
225912
The uses you have identified are using Helium because it is inert and will not chemicaly react with other elements, however, there are potential uses for Helium as fuel, contrary to the other answers. \n\nHelium 3 is considered to be an ideal potential fuel for fusion-reaction power plants. The energy equivalent of Helium 3 compared to steam coal (at $2.5/million BTU) is about $140 million per 100 kg. In other words, it is a quite valuable resource if we are eventually able to utilize fusion reactors. \n\nThe most interesting part of this is that the moon's surface rock contains helium of this light isotope in much higher concentrations than found on earth. It could become economical to obtain He 3 from the moon if we develop fusion reactors as an energy source.
105991
I believe in the long run it will be cheaper than fossil fuel based applications. Sure, nuclear reactors are expensive to build and control and the deposit of waste costs a lot. But in the long term, i think the costs saved from cleaning up pollution caused by fossil fuels, and costs saved from the transportation of fuels (uranium generates way more energy than an equal amount of oil or coal) will be more beneficial than using fossil fuels.
1170603
okay. well, in a nuclear reactor, uranium or plutonium is bombarded with neutrons in order to force it to split and release huge amounts of energy. elements with 92 protons and up will nearly always absorb a neutron and split without hesitating.\n\nin a nuclear reactor, the uranium is highly enriched, which means it contains certain uranium isotopes that are less stable than others, therefore making it easier to split (and it IS weapon grade). it is kept at what's called the critical mass level. subcritcal mass wont sustain a chain reaction, and supercritical mass will cause a runaway chain reaction, like in an atomic bomb. the control rods in the reactor can be pushed in and out of the core, which contains the uranium (U) or plutonium (Pu). when the rods are all the way in, the reaction comes to a halt, when they are all the way out (they never are) the reaction reaches supercritical levels and escapes control. (this happened at chernobyl). there are other ways for a reactor to reach the supercritical level, the control rod material plays a part, the coolant, and of course those controlling the reaction. control rod material is very important, because if the material the rods are made of do not absorb enough neutrons, they will allow the reaction to continue (this happened at chernobyl, the material actually caused an increase in reaction speed and power). the coolant must have a very low void coefficient, (the void coefficient tells how much of the liquid is gas pockets at any given time. water has a high void coefficient) or else the gas pockets will allow extra heat to build up, therefore allowing the reaction to escape control, and possibly melt the core, as what happened at Three Mile Island. \n\nin short, a nuclear reactor cannot cause a thermonuclear explosion, because all current nuclear reactors are fission reactors, and thermonukes are fusion. however, the fission reactors in operation CAN cause an explosion (and it IS a nuclear explosion. nuclear particles and waste material are ejected from the reactor when it explodes. this can cause acute radiation poisoning in surrounding area), if they are not very carefully, precisely, and intelligently monitored.
1157622
how bout we assimilate both coutries nuclear programs so we don't have to waste so much energy.  why everyone wanna be against each other.  why not work as a team to better life.