Information on nuclear power plants

A nuclear power plant is a thermal power plant designed to produce electricity, where heat is generated by the fission reaction of uranium atoms in the reactor instead of by the combustion of conventional fuel. The heat produced by the fission chain reaction is conducted by a cooling cycle to turbines, which convert the thermal energy into kinetic energy and then into electricity via a generator.

Reactors can be divided according to their purpose into power reactors, research reactors and isotope production reactors. The purpose of power reactors is to produce energy. There are several types of reactor in the world, but the most common are the pressurised water reactor and the boiling water reactor.

Small nuclear power plants are currently being developed alongside the existing large nuclear power plants.