Very similar to how dams or coal produces energy, actually. They all involve the converison of one type of ebergy into kinetic energy used to turn a turbine, thus genrating electricity. A dam uses gravitational potential energy, coal uses heat generated from combustion to heat water which inturn turns a turbine, and nuclear energy uses the energy of radiation to heat water timturn a turbine. First tou have to refine a radioactive material, like Uranium, into a form with a shorter half life. You then form this into the shape of rods. a shorter half life. You then form this into the shape of rods. These rods are placed such that they can be moved in and out of a material which shields the radiation from escaping. If you want to crank upthe energy production, then you pull more of the rods from this shielding material. If you want les, then you push it deeper within. The radioactive Uranium nuclei split, throwing off neutrons and protons and energy. It is this energy which is used to heat water into steam. The steam turns w turbine, which is basically coils of wire around a magnet. When the wire turns around the magent, electricity is generated.
nuclear power can be produced in a couple ways, either through the nuclear fuel heating water to make steam or just to cause a thermosiphon effect to run a turbine which itself runs a electrical generator. the other is using the heat from the nuclear fuel to produce power directly from thermo-electric generators through thermal difference(one side it heat and the other cooled, producing a electric current in the material). the heat from the nuclear material is the key, it's produced from the decay of radioactive isotopes of elements.
side note, ibrahim is wrong, what happens in a nuclear reactor is NOT fission, otherwise the whole place would be a nuclear bomb since once the fission reaction starts, the only thing that stops it is the explosion spreading the atoms far enough apart so their neutrons can't hit each other enough to continue the reaction, that is not what you're looking for when producing electricity. what you can looking for is radioactive decay that produces heat and uranium is one of the best radioactive materials for this, so they use it.
It cannot do it the direct way. Nuclear energy makes heat and this heat can be used do heat water that drives normal turbines that make electricity.Most commonly, nuclear energy is used to boil water and produce high pressure steam. The steam is then used to turn a turbine, which turns a generator which produces electricity.
A nuclear power plant is
basically a steam power plant
that is fueled by a radioactive
element, like uranium. The fuel
is placed in a reactor and the
individual atoms are allowed to
split apart. The splitting
process, known as fission,
releases great amounts of
energy. This energy is used to
heat water until it turns to
steam.
From here, the mechanics of a
steam power plant take over.
The steam pushes on turbines,
which force coils of wire to
interact with a magnetic field.
This generates an electric
current.
I agree what Ibrahim says
