Nuclear Reactors
Once processing takes place, these fuel assemblies are taken to a nuclear power plant. Once inside the plant, the fuel assemblies provide the fuel for nuclear reactions (fission). Nuclear reactors start and harness the energy of the fission reaction. Rollover each part of the diagram with your mouse to learn about how nuclear reactors harness the vast amount of energy given off by nuclear fission.
Suppose you drive past a nuclear power plant and see that it has a smokestack, just like a power plant that burns fossil fuels. There is a cloud of smoke coming from the smokestack. Since nuclear power plants do not burn anything, what is the stuff that comes out of their smokestacks?
The smokestack should more accurately be named a "steamstack." Nuclear power plants do not burn fuel; they rely completely on the nuclear fission chain reaction to produce heat energy. The heat energy is then used to heat water and produce steam. The stuff you see coming from a nuclear power plant is just steam, or gaseous water.
How do nuclear power plants compare to those that burn fossil fuels in terms of carbon emissions into the atmosphere?
Unlike power plants that burn carbon-rich fossil fuels, nuclear power plants do not burn any fuels. Since no carbon-bearing fuels are burned, nuclear power plants emit no carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere.
