How a nuclear power plant works

There are more than 100 licensed commercial nuclear reactors in the United States, most of them built in the 1960s and 70s. There has been a recent resurgence in the value of these plants. Almost all the reactors in operation in the U.S. are some variation of the reactor illustrated here.
Stack Pump house Water tanks Steel vessel

Reactors operating in the U.S.

Wash. Wis. Calif. Neb. Kan. Ariz. Texas Ill. Mo. Vt. Mich. N.Y. Pa. Ohio Maine N.H. Mass. Conn. Md. N.C. S.C. Ga. Fla. N.J.

Va.

Tenn. Ark. Ala. La. Miss.

Control room

Waste tanks store radioactive waste in water until it is moved to underground storage.

Storage pond holds used fuel rods.

Inside the steel vessel

Steam generators

Generators Condensed Turbine water

Pressurizer

Fuel rods contain uranium fuel. Transmission lines carry electricity to homes and businesses.

To turbine that powers the generators

How it works
In a typical nuclear plant, fission in the reactor core (1) creates heat. Water piped through the reactor carries the heat to a steam generator (2). The steam generator vaporizes the water and sends it to the turbine (3). In the turbine, the steam spins blades that generate electricity, much like in a fossil-fuel plant. Plant technicians in the control room (4) monitor the reactors chain reactions.
Sources: How Things Work, published by Dempsey Parr; National Geographics How Things Work; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Los Angeles Times research

Condensed water from turbine Reactor Fuel rods Coolant pumps

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