Nuclear Power

Nuclear plants, reactor types (PWR/BWR/VVER), fuel cycle, safety, decommissioning.

446 articles

Articles

10 min read

Reed Research Reactor: Undergraduate Operation and TRIGA Design

The Reed Research Reactor is a 250 kW TRIGA Mark I research reactor at Reed College, uniquely operated by undergraduate students.

12 min read

Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant: The World's First Grid-Connected Reactor

Obninsk NPP was the first nuclear power plant connected to a grid (1954). It pioneered RBMK technology and operated until 2002.

11 min read

China Experimental Fast Reactor: Design, Operations, and Strategic Role

Profile of the China Experimental Fast Reactor (CEFR), China's first fast-neutron reactor located in Beijing, detailing its design, construc...

12 min read

Breeder reactor: Design, fuel cycles, and global deployment

Overview of breeder reactors, which generate more fissile material than they consume, including fast and thermal types and global projects.

12 min read

Universities Research Reactor: Design, Operations, and Decommissioning

The Universities Research Reactor was an Argonaut class nuclear research reactor in England, jointly operated by Manchester and Liverpool un...

13 min read

Self-Powered Neutron Detector: Design and Operation

Overview of self-powered neutron detectors (SPNDs) used for mapping neutron flux in nuclear fission reactors.

10 min read

BORAX experiments: Safety testing and the first grid-connected nuclear power

Overview of the BORAX boiling water reactor safety experiments conducted by Argonne National Laboratory in Idaho during the 1950s and 1960s.

11 min read

Dragon reactor: UK's experimental high-temperature gas-cooled reactor

The Dragon reactor was a successful experimental high-temperature gas-cooled reactor in the UK, operating from 1965 to 1976.

14 min read

BN-350 reactor: Design, Operations, and Decommissioning

The BN-350 was a sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor in Kazakhstan, providing power, plutonium, and desalination.

11 min read

Kintigh Generating Station

Profile of the Kintigh Generating Station, New York's last coal plant, its history, operations, and 2020 retirement.

13 min read

Wylfa Newydd nuclear power station

Proposed 2700 MWe ABWR plant in Wales, owned by Hitachi, withdrawn in 2020, later repurposed for SMRs.

11 min read

OPAL reactor: Australia's research reactor and neutron source

OPAL is a 20 MW research reactor in Sydney, Australia, producing medical isotopes and neutron beams for scientific research.

8 min read

ETRR-2: Egypt's Research Reactor and Nuclear Safeguards

ETRR-2 is a 22 MW research reactor in Egypt, supplied by INVAP. It played a key role in IAEA safeguards investigations.

15 min read

Quasi-isodynamic stellarator: Design principles and magnetic confinement

Overview of quasi-isodynamic stellarators, a class of magnetic confinement fusion reactors designed to minimize neoclassical transport.

16 min read

Bilibino Nuclear Power Plant: History, Decommissioning, and Legacy

Profile of the Bilibino Nuclear Power Plant in Russia's Chukotka region, its EGP-6 reactors, decommissioning timeline, and replacement by Ak...

12 min read

Shutdown (nuclear reactor)

Technical overview of nuclear reactor shutdown states, margins, and cold shutdown procedures.

10 min read

Piqua Nuclear Power Facility: History and Decommissioning

The Piqua Nuclear Power Facility was an organic-cooled reactor in Ohio, operating from 1963 to 1966 as a demonstration project.

11 min read

Kemmerer Power Station: First Commercial Natrium Reactor in the United States

Kemmerer Power Station is the first commercial sodium-cooled fast reactor in the US since 1975, featuring molten salt storage.

16 min read

Steam generator (nuclear power)

Heat exchanger converting water to steam in PWRs, separating radioactive primary and secondary coolant loops.

16 min read

Corium: Composition, Formation, and Behavior in Nuclear Meltdowns

Corium is a lava-like mixture of nuclear fuel, structural materials, and fission products formed during a reactor core meltdown.