FIRST STAGE SECOND STAGE THIRD STAGE FOURTH STAGE

NEUTRON NEUTRON NEUTRON NEUTRON

Fig. 4.03
2. The neutrons produced in the U235 block leak from the block, if the size of the
block is smaller than the critical size.
The U235 block is said to be of critical size, if the number of neutrons lost per second is just
equal to the number of neutrons produced per second in the block.
The mass of the UZ3 block of critical size is called critical mass. Some neutrons
are also lost due to their absorption by the impurities present in the U block.
So that the fission reaction proceeds smoothly, the number of neutrons
produced per second should be greater than the number of neutrons lost per second
rom the block. It is achieved by having U235 block of size bigger than the critical
size. The loss of neutrons from the U235 block is also minimised by providing alayer
Ofnon-fissionable material over the U3 block. In fact, whether a chain reaction will
Temain steady or accelerate or retard is determined by a factor, called neutron
Teproduction factor (k).
Neutron reproduction factor is defined as the ratio of the rate of production of neutrons
to the rate of loss of neutrons. Thus,
rate of production of neutrons ..(4.02)
k=
rate of loss of neutrons
Anssion reaction will be steady, in case k= 1. In case k>1, the fission reaction
will
laccelerate and it will retard, in case k<1.
4.07, NUCLEAR REACTOR
Anuclear reactor is a device in which nuclear fission can be carried out through
asustained and a a controlled chain reaction. It is also called an atomicpile. By making
use of uuranium as fuel, the products such as neutrons (useful for causing fission of

uranium), radioisotopes and heat energy (to run turbines)

are produced.
 surrounded by
1300
thick blocks ofcarbon nuclear
Construction. Anuclear reactorr
consists of
4.04. The other parts ofthe
shown in Fig.
thick absorbing walls of concrete. as
Teactor areasexplained below: CONTROL
MODERATOR RODS
STEAM TO
COOLANT TURBINE
(WHEN HOT)
00001
WATER
CONCRETE
WALLS

COOLANT
(WHEN GOLD)
CARBON BLOCK

u230 IN ALUMINIUM Watch out

CYLINDERS
Fig.4.04
usedin thereactor is called
nuclearfuel. 99-3% ofuranium
isthe isasgel
0.7% of mixed uranium
ematerial is f
1, Nuclear fuel. The fissionable
sealed in aluminium cylinders. These cylinders are y235 which provides the por
It generallyconsists of o U235 the carbon blocks. normal fission reactor !
inserted in the holes drilledin downthe fastmoving neutrons produced
RModerator. The material used to slow in the fission
nuclear fission is called moderator. The neutrons released energy to
as aresultof order of 2MeV. Moderator reduces their
of uranium possessenergy of the to the thermatmotiön of the neutron. For this reason,
0-0235 eV, which corresponds energy of 0-0235 eV are called thermal neutrons. In
the neutrons slowed down to the either graphite (carbon) or water or heavy water
anuclear reactor, the moderator is
(deuterium oxide).
Research Centre, Trombay uses water as
The Apsra reactor at BhabhaAtomic It is a swimming pool type nuclear
moderator. It was commissioned in the year 1956. of genetic studies in agricultural
reactor. Ithas rendered agreat service in the field Kota and Narora are used for
Kalpakkam,
crops. The nuclear reactors at Tarapur, heavy water is used as moderator.
power production and in these reactors, neutrons are used to control
3. Control rods. The materials that can absorb the used for this purpose. They
the nuclear chain reaction. Cadmium" or boron rods are blocks. When the control
can be moved in or out of the holes drilled in the carbon neutrons to such
rods are completely pushed into the carbon blocks, they absorb the slowly withdrawn,
an extent that the chain reaction comes to a halt. As the rods are
the chain reaction proceeds and more we withdraw the rods, stronger is the intensity
of the chain reaction.
4.Coolant. The material used to absorb the heat generated as a consequence
of chainreaction is called coolant. The coolant releases the heat energy to the water
and the water is thus converted into super-heated steam, which is used to runthe
urbines. These turbines in turn are used to operate the machines, say electric
generator. Liquid sodium may also be used as coolant. Sometimes heavý water is
used as coolant.
5. Protective shield. To prevent the spreading of the radioactive effect to the
space around the nuclear reactor, it is enclosed in thick Concrete watts catted
protective shield. The protective shieldmay be 10 m thick.
Working. Asingle slowneutron causes the fission of , U235 nucleus, with the
release of 200 MeV energy and three fast neutrons. The cadmium rods partially
Rnrh the neutrons and the moderator slows down the remaining neutrons. The
Sow neutrons carry out the fission of other gUnuclei and so on. In order to step
un the reaction, the cadmium rods are slowly withdrawn, while to step Own the
eaction. the cadmium rods are slowly introduced. In addition to control rods, the
reactors are provided with safety rods. For the fair functioning of a nuclear reactor, Watch out !
its k-factor is kept close to unity by moving the cadmium rods in or out. nuclear
ofa
The k-factor is defined as the ratio of the number of fissions The operation
k-factor
produced
oPneration of neutrons to the numiber of jisstoMs of the preceeding generation by a given
of neutrons. It critical, as its
is also called reproduction factor.
*Cadmium has high cross-section for neutron absorption
NCLEARREACTIONS

Uses. 1. Nuclear reactors are used in electric Power generation.

2They are used to produce radioactive isotopesfor their use in medical science,
agricultureand industry.
3.They areresearch.
allso used to produce neutron beamns of very high intensity for their
INe in nuclear
4.08. NUCLEARFUSION
Whentwo or more than tuo light nucleifuse together to form heavy nucleus with the
liberation of energy, the process is called nuclear fusion.
For example, two deutrons çan fusetogether to form a helium nucleus releasing
24 MeV of energy. The fusion reaction may be expressed as below:
H'+H’He+ 24 MeV
The above nuclear fusion reaction isenergetically possible, only if the mass of the
He nucleus is less than the sum of the masses of the two deutron nuclei. The
difference in the initialmass and the final mass of the product nuclei is liberated as
he energy of fusion reaction. It may be pointed out that the fusion of two light nuclei
akes place in an attempt to achieve greater stability. It is because, the high value of the
DInding energy per nucleon is one of the factors responsible for the greater stability of
Anucleus. It follows from the binding energy curve that in the low mass number region,
Mie binding energy per nucleon increases with the mass number. When two lighter
Mucei fuse together to form a heavier nucleus, the net mass defect and hence the binding
nergy of the nucleus so formed will be more.
To carry out the fusion of two nuclei, they must be brought so much close to each
other that they overcome the electrostatic repulsion and come within the attractive
of the nuclear forces. This is possible only, when they approach each other with
Kinetic energy of the order of 0-1 MeV or more. This is best obtained by raising the
emperature of the two nuclei to about 10 K.At this temperature, the thermal motion
atoms is with kinetic energy of the order of 0-1 MeV. For this reason, nuclear fusion
Teactionis also termed as themonuclear reaction.
emperature of the order of 10Kis very difficult to obtain. However, this can be