Why is a Nuclear Reactor Safe?

After the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the word nuclear referred as the weapon of mass destruction; but  if the nuclear power is harvest in a proper way, we could generate mass amount of clean green energy with just small amount of fuel. The question that most of the people ask about  The most commonly asked question about a nuclear power plant is that, is it safe?  As we all know the reason for this question is that the amount of radiation from the nuclear reactor fuel can harm thousands of lives.        

                This concern is not necessary because the nuclear reactor technology is been around for almost half a decade and nuclear scientist and engineers have learned a lot so far on the safety measures of a nuclear power plant. Engineers have equip the nuclear power plants with  lasts technology which ranges from different types of field from radiation containment, reactor temperature control, back-up electricity to plane crash protection.

                If we talk about the radiation containment, the whole nuclear reactor is place inside a ceramic containment building as show in figure 1. This ceramic containment building which is usually called the dome is shield steel and concrete missile shield which could with stand missile attacks and airplane crashes in case of any attacks to nuclear power plant. Furthermore, even thought the core of the reactor melts down the containment building the capability to contain the radiation from the reactor core from spreading out.  

                The next safety features is the moderators and the control rods. Moderators in simple words are the element which slows down the neutron which starts the fission process in the fuel cell. This is important because when neutrons are in thermal (slow), this enables us to control the fission process rate or the reactivity. This way we can ensure that the reaction rate is in the safest level and produce energy in the required amount only. However the control rods in the other hand have the ability to absorb neutron and drastically reduce the reaction rate or the fission rate to minimum level. The control rod are usually used when in emergencies to reduce the fission level when the reaction rate reaches high level and produces high amount of energy. This safety features ensures any kind of reactor melt downs.

                Next is the use of backup generates which help to produce electricity to the power plant in case of any emergency and the plant had to shut down its reactor core. So even thought the plant doesn’t obtain electricity from the reactor, it will have enough electricity to engage active safety features of the power plant. As show in figure 2 the plant has 2 generators instate of one for safety reasons. If the 1^st generator is not working there is always the 2^nd generator to produce enough electricity for the plant.

                Therefore the new generation nuclear power plants are over designed for better safety and to ensure from any nuclear disaster from happening.  We can say that the current and future Nuclear Power Plant are safe and reliable in every way to keep our bulbs glowing with electricity that we need.