What is the difference between coal and nuclear power?
The main difference between coal energy and nuclear energy is the type of fuel they use. Nuclear energy uses enriched radioactive elements like uranium to produce heat in a process called nuclear fission. In contrast, coal energy uses coal, a fossil fuel that is burned to produce heat.
How do you identify a nuclear power plant?
One way to positively identify a nuclear power plant is by its reactor. The reactor structure tends to look like a short, squatty, circular dome located near the cooling towers.
What are the differences between coal based thermal power plant and nuclear power plant?
In a nuclear plant, the heat source is from the nuclear reaction whereas in a thermal power plant it is from the combustion of coal. The difference is in the inlet steam parameters to the turbine in a nuclear plant. Thermal power plants use steam at superheated conditions. The nuclear plant uses a ‘wet steam turbine’.
What shape is a nuclear cooling tower?
Many cooling towers are made in a specific cylindrical shape; their base is wide, they narrow at the middle, and become broad again at the top. This shape is called “hyperboloid”.
How is nuclear power similar to coal power?
Like coal power, nuclear power is economical and does not fluctuate as much as wind or solar power. Unlike coal, it is considered clean in terms of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by the power plant itself, although uranium mining and processing are not without risks and environmental impact.
What is the difference between thermal and nuclear power?
“Thermal” power plants convert heat into electricity using steam. At nuclear power plants, the heat to make the steam is created when atoms split apart — called fission. In a nuclear power plant, uranium is the material used in the fission process. The heat from fission boils water and creates steam to turn a turbine.
Why are nuclear power plants shaped like that?
Reason for general shape: hollow structure is required through which hot air from the bottom, to a cooler top, which is at a lower pressure. More air flowing through the tower means better cooling, so a tower allowing more air to pass through is best (wider tower, more gaps at bottom).
How do nuclear power plant cooling towers work?
Cooling towers provide an energy efficient and environmentally friendly way of removing heat from this circulating water before it is returned to its source. The cooler water then returns to the plant and condenses steam back into water in the condenser and the entire cycle is repeated.