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{{Short description|Device for controlled nuclear reactions}} {{About|nuclear fission reactors|nuclear fusion reactors|Fusion power}} {{Redirect|Nuclear pile|nuclear stockpiles|List of states with nuclear weapons}} {{multiple image | perrow = 1/2/2/2/1 | total_width = 350 | image1 = Time, 3-22 p.m, December 2, 1942. Place, Racquets Court under West Stands of Stagg Field, University of Chicago.... - NARA - 542144.tif | image2 = Shippingport_Reactor.jpg | image3 = Tsinghua 04790004 (8389261478).jpg | image4 = NB-36H_with_B-50,_1955_-_DF-SC-83-09332.jpeg | image5 = USS Enterprise (CVAN-65), USS Long Beach (CGN-9) and USS Bainbridge (DLGN-25) underway in the Mediterranean Sea during Operation Sea Orbit, in 1964.jpg | image8 = The_damaged_unit_4_reactor_and_shelter_at_Chernobyl,_as_seen_from_a_rooftop_in_Pripyat_%2802710147%29.jpg | footer = From top, left to right # [[Chicago Pile-1]], the first artificial nuclear reactor # [[Shippingport Atomic Power Station]], the first peacetime reactor # [[HTR-10]], a prototype to the first Generation IV reactor, [[HTR-PM]] # The [[Convair NB-36H]], the first aircraft to test an onboard reactor # [[Operation Sea Orbit]], the first nuclear-powered circumnavigation # The [[Chernobyl sarcophagus]], built to contain the effects of the [[Chernobyl disaster|1986 disaster]] }} A '''nuclear reactor''' is a device used to initiate and control a [[Nuclear fission|fission]] [[nuclear chain reaction]]. They are used for [[Nuclear power|commercial electricity]], [[nuclear marine propulsion|marine propulsion]], [[Weapons-grade plutonium|weapons production]] and [[Research reactor|research]]. [[Fissile material|Fissile nuclei]] (primarily [[uranium-235]] or [[plutonium-239]]) absorb single [[neutron|neutrons]] and split, releasing energy and multiple neutrons, which can induce further fission. Reactors stabilize this, regulating [[Neutron absorber|neutron absorbers]] and [[neutron moderator|moderator]]s in the core. Fuel efficiency is exceptionally high; [[Enriched uranium#Low-enriched uranium (LEU)|low-enriched uranium]] is 120,000 times more energy dense than coal.<ref name="r199">{{cite web |date=2024-05-20 |title=Nuclear Fuel Cycle Overview |url=https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/introduction/nuclear-fuel-cycle-overview |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=World Nuclear Association}}</ref><ref name="y385">{{cite web |author=Science and Mathematics Education Research Group, University of British Columbia |title=Physics Nuclear Physics: Nuclear Reactors |url=https://scienceres-edcp-educ.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2015/01/sec_phys_nuclear_reactors.pdf |access-date=2024-11-04}}</ref> Heat from nuclear fission is passed to a [[working fluid]] [[Nuclear reactor#By coolant|coolant]]. In commercial reactors, this drives [[Turbine|turbines]] and [[electrical generator]] shafts. Some reactors are used for [[district heating]], and [[isotopes|isotope]] production for [[Nuclear medicine|medical]] and [[industrial radiography|industrial]] use. Following the 1938 [[discovery of nuclear fission|discovery of fission]], many countries initiated [[Technology during World War II#Atomic bomb|military nuclear research programs]]. Early [[subcritical]] experiments probed [[neutronics]]. In 1942, the first artificial{{NoteTag|An extinct [[natural nuclear fission reactor]] was discovered in 1972 in Oklo, Gabon.<ref name="DavisGould2014">{{cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=E. D. |last2=Gould |first2=C. R. |last3=Sharapov|first3=E. I. |title=Oklo reactors and implications for nuclear science |journal=International Journal of Modern Physics E |volume=23 |issue=4 |year=2014 |pages=1430007β236 |issn=0218-3013 |doi=10.1142/S0218301314300070 |arxiv = 1404.4948 |bibcode = 2014IJMPE..2330007D |s2cid=118394767}}</ref>|name=b}} critical nuclear reactor, [[Chicago Pile-1]], was built by the [[Metallurgical Laboratory]].<ref name=":0" /> From 1944, for [[Plutonium bomb|weapons production]], the [[B Reactor|first large-scale reactors]] were operated at the [[Hanford Site]]. The [[pressurized water reactor]] design, used in ~70% of [[List of commercial nuclear reactors|commercial reactors]], was developed for [[United States Navy|US Navy]] [[Nuclear marine propulsion|submarine propulsion]], beginning with [[S1W reactor|S1W]] in 1953.<ref name="c847" /> In 1954, nuclear electricity production began with the Soviet [[Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant|Obninsk plant]].<ref name="kotchetkov">[http://www.neimagazine.com/features/featureobninsk-number-one Nuclear Engineering International: Obninsk - number one, by Lev Kotchetkov] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102021944/http://www.neimagazine.com/features/featureobninsk-number-one|date=2 November 2013}}, who was there at the time. Source for most of the information in this article.</ref> [[Spent nuclear fuel|Spent fuel]] can be [[Nuclear reprocessing|reprocessed]], reducing [[nuclear waste]] and recovering [[MOX fuel|reactor-usable fuel]].<ref name="z699">{{cite web |title=Spent Fuel Reprocessing Options |url=https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/te_1587_web.pdf |access-date=2024-08-30 |publisher=IAEA}}</ref> This also poses a [[nuclear proliferation|proliferation]] risk via production of [[plutonium]] and [[tritium]] for [[Boosted fission weapon|nuclear weapons]]. Reactor accidents have been caused by combinations of design and operator failure. The 1979 [[Three Mile Island accident]], at [[International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale|INES Level 5]], and the 1986 [[Chernobyl disaster]] and 2011 [[Fukushima nuclear accident|Fukushima disaster]], both at Level 7, all had major effects on the nuclear industry and [[anti-nuclear movement]]. {{As of|2025}}, there are 417 commercial reactors, 226 [[research reactors]], and over 200 [[Nuclear marine propulsion|marine propulsion]] reactors in operation globally.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pris.iaea.org/pris/|title=PRIS β Home|website=pris.iaea.org|access-date=10 April 2019|archive-date=11 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211095840/http://www.iaea.org/programmes/a2/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://nucleus.iaea.org/RRDB/RR/ReactorSearch.aspx?rf=1|title=RRDB Search|website=nucleus.iaea.org|access-date=6 January 2019|archive-date=18 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918002503/https://nucleus.iaea.org/RRDB/RR/ReactorSearch.aspx?rf=1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Oldekop|first=W.|title=Electricity and Heat from Thermal Nuclear Reactors|date=1982|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68444-9_5|work=Primary Energy|pages=66β91|place=Berlin, Heidelberg|publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg|doi=10.1007/978-3-642-68444-9_5|isbn=978-3-540-11307-2|access-date=2021-02-02|archive-date=5 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180605083309/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-68444-9_5|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="u236">{{cite web |date=2023-02-15 |title=Nuclear-Powered Ships |url=https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/non-power-nuclear-applications/transport/nuclear-powered-ships |access-date=2024-12-31 |website=World Nuclear Association}}</ref> Commercial reactors provide 9% of the global electricity supply,<ref name="f712">{{cite web |date=2025-01-06 |title=Nuclear Power in the World Today |url=https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/nuclear-power-in-the-world-today |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=World Nuclear Association}}</ref> compared to 30% from [[renewables]],<ref name="c582">{{cite web |last=Ambrose |first=Jillian |date=2024-05-07 |title=Renewable energy passes 30% of world's electricity supply |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/08/renewable-energy-passes-30-of-worlds-electricity-supply |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=the Guardian}}</ref> together comprising [[low-carbon electricity]]. Almost 90% of this comes from [[pressurized water reactors|pressurized]] and [[boiling water reactors]].<ref name="c847">{{cite web |last=Region |first=CountryBy TypeBy |date=2024-08-29 |title=In Operation & Suspended Operation |url=https://pris.iaea.org/PRIS/WorldStatistics/OperationalReactorsByType.aspx |access-date=2024-08-30 |website=PRIS}}</ref> Other designs include [[Gas-cooled reactor|gas-cooled]], [[Fast-neutron reactor|fast-spectrum]], [[Breeder reactor|breeder]], [[Pressurized heavy-water reactor|heavy-water]], [[Molten-salt reactor|molten-salt]], and [[Small modular reactor|small modular]]; each optimizes safety, efficiency, cost, [[Nuclear fuel|fuel type]], [[Enriched uranium|enrichment]], and [[burnup]].
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