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PH8103 Presentation 13

The document discusses nuclear fission and fusion as sources of energy. It describes the basic components of fission reactors, including fuel, moderators, and control systems. It also differentiates between power, research, and converter reactors. The document then covers nuclear fusion, noting its advantages over fission but also the challenges of overcoming Coulomb repulsion between nuclei. It provides examples of the proton-proton chain reaction that powers the Sun through nuclear fusion.

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Rishav Saikia
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30 views

PH8103 Presentation 13

The document discusses nuclear fission and fusion as sources of energy. It describes the basic components of fission reactors, including fuel, moderators, and control systems. It also differentiates between power, research, and converter reactors. The document then covers nuclear fusion, noting its advantages over fission but also the challenges of overcoming Coulomb repulsion between nuclei. It provides examples of the proton-proton chain reaction that powers the Sun through nuclear fusion.

Uploaded by

Rishav Saikia
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Nuclear Fission

Fig.: A smooth potential barrier opposing the spontaneous


fission of 238U. To surmount the fission barrier, we must
supply an amount of energy = activation energy.
Fission reactors
All reactors consist of the same essential elements:

• fuel or fissile material


• moderator
• reflector
• containment vessel
• shielding
• coolant
• control system
Types of reactors

1. Power reactors
• devices for extracting the kinetic energy of the fission fragments
as heat and thereby converting the heat energy to electrical
energy , , , … by boiling water and driving a turbine with the
resulting steam.
• ∼ 1000 MW reactor.

2. Research reactors
• generally designed to produce neutrons for research in areas
such as nuclear or solid-state physics.
• generally operate at low power levels in the range of 1 - 10 MW.
3. Converters

• reactors designed to have high efficiency for converting material


that is not fissionable with thermal neutrons to material that is.
• specific conversions generally used are:
238
U to 239Pu and 232Th to 233U.

238 232
Isotopes such as U and Th , which can be converted to
thermally fissile material are called fertile.

Fast reactors
require no moderator at all (⟹ it occupies much smaller
volume).
lower cross sections for fast neutrons ⟹ require 10 - 100 times
the fuel of thermal reactors providing the same power.
Type of fuel

235
Natural uranium (0.72 % U)

Enriched uranium (> 0.72 % 235U) ⟶ most commonly used


fuel in power reactors.

239
Pu and 233U ⟶ obtained from chemical processing of
fertile material from converter or breeder reactors.
Nuclear Fusion
Advantages of fusion over fission

• the light nuclei are plentiful and easy to obtain.


• the end-products are usually light, stable nuclei rather than
heavy radioactive ones.

Disadvantages

• before light nuclei can be combined, their mutual Coulomb


repulsion must be overcome.
• cross sections for reactions induced by charged particles tend to
decrease with decreasing energy.
Characteristics of fusion

1. Energy release

• For most applications of fusion, from controlled fusion reactors


to solar processes, the reacting particles have energies in the
range of 1 - 10 keV.
• The initial kinetic energies are thus small compared with the Q
values of several MeV.
• The energy released and the final total energy of the product
particles will be equal to Q value.
a+X→Y+b

1 1
mbvb + mY vY2 ≃ Q
2
(1)
2 2

mbvb ≃ mY vY (2)

1 2 Q
(1) ⟹ mbvb ≃ mb (3)
2 1+ m
Y

1 2 Q
Similarly, mY vY ≃ mY (4)
2 1+ m
b

from which we can calculate the distribution in energy for the


elementary fusion reactions.
~ The lighter product particle takes the larger share of the energy.~

mbvb
(2) ⟹ ≃1
mY vY
1
2
mbvb2 mY
⟹ = (5)
1
mY vY2 mb
2

2. Coulomb barrier
3. Cross section
4. Reaction rate
Solar fusion

Fig.: Sequence of processes in proton-proton


chain of fusion reactions.
Q.1: If 200 MeV energy is released in the fission of a single nucleus of
235
92 U , how many fissions must occur per second to produce a power
of 1 kW?

Q.2: The mean lives of a radioactive substance are 1620 years and 405
years for alpha emission and beta emission respectively. Find out the
time during which 3/4th of a sample will decay if it is decaying both by
alpha emission and beta emission simultaneously.

Q.3: A nuclear reactor using 92U 235 is to operate at a power level of


250 MW. If the energy released per fission of 92U 235 is 200 meV,
calculate its rate of consumption per year; assuming that there are no
losses & that the mass of atom is equal to the sum of masses of nucleus
where each nucleon has a mass equal to 1 amu.

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