This is what happens when you take all the control rods out of an ACRR nuclear reactor, which is completely shut down. It shoots up to [B]35 Gigawatts[/B] for a few milliseconds (a nuclear power plant reactor is about 0.5-1GW) then feedback effects cause it to drop down to a steady state. The supercritical state it's in for the first fraction of a second is the same process that happens when an atomic bomb explodes. Despite the safety features that obviously work, if I was the guy pressing the button to pull out the control rods, I'd probably be shitting my pants every time I did it.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa0Fmcv83nw[/media]
The blue light is [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiation"]Cherenkov radiation[/url]
holy shit the noise it makes !
I wonder what would happen to a person that's unlucky to end up there
[QUOTE=WarRage333;33357190]I wonder what would happen to a person that's unlucky to end up there[/QUOTE]
Hmm. I dunno. Maybe they would die from radiation or something.
Nah they would prolly be good.
[QUOTE=WarRage333;33357190]I wonder what would happen to a person that's unlucky to end up there[/QUOTE]
[img]http://storage.canalblog.com/11/90/389289/39063837.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=WarRage333;33357190]I wonder what would happen to a person that's unlucky to end up there[/QUOTE]
They would be vaporized from the heat or die from radiation poisoning. I would prefer to die the first way.
I had the volume up and it made me jump. Really interesting though.
Wow, 35 Gigawatts. That's an awesome amount of power
Holy shit my heart just jumped.
So what was actually happening in the video (for a slow person like me).
I want fusion reactors. :(
Fusion is better.
[QUOTE=Bad Reading;33358626]I want fusion reactors. :(
Fusion is better.[/QUOTE]
Get us some Hydrogen then.
[img]http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/4923/jesuschrist.png[/img]
Christ on a cracker
It's about to go critical!
What the hell is going on with our equipment!?
I jumped in my chair
Better find Doctor Brown.
Out of curiosity, how do they contain an immense power like this in the first place? During the reactor construction process, I wonder how they actually start its functions.
[QUOTE=genkaz92;33359619]Out of curiosity, how do they contain an immense power like this in the first place? During the reactor construction process, I wonder how they actually start its functions.[/QUOTE]
ya just dip it underwater bruh
water tames that shit
So did they pull out the rods all at once for a quick second and then replace them? Or did they keep them out and that's just the initial burst? Why do they do this?
That's 3x the amount of energy used to launch the space shuttle. Holy shit.
I forgot it was underwater at first and thought the air was rippling somehow haha, but still, really awesome stuff, I love how much energy is released.
[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;33358856]It's about to go critical!
What the hell is going on with our equipment!?[/QUOTE]
Gordon, get away from the-
It's - It's not shutting down; it's... Arghawoaahrhrhrhr!
[QUOTE=Dark-Energy;33360134]Gordon, get away from the-
It's - It's not shutting down; it's... Arghawoaahrhrhrhr![/QUOTE]
Why do we all have to wear these ridiculous ties?
[QUOTE=genkaz92;33359619]Out of curiosity, how do they contain an immense power like this in the first place? During the reactor construction process, I wonder how they actually start its functions.[/QUOTE]
I assume they are constructed with the control rods fully in, in a configuration that if it was fully fuelled there would be enough neutron absorbing material in there to kill all fission reactions, then the fuel rods will be inserted. With all fuel rods and control rods inserted it will be like the reactor in the beginning of this video, completely shut down as the control rods will absorb all neutrons. Then slowly, they will withdraw some of the control rods to a position that gives a steady state nuclear reaction at the required power. This is completely speculation, but that's the way I would do it :v:.
[QUOTE=Alxnotorious;33359774]So did they pull out the rods all at once for a quick second and then replace them? Or did they keep them out and that's just the initial burst? Why do they do this?[/QUOTE]
No they pulled all the control rods out and kept them out, until right near the end of the video. The reactor is designed to pull the reaction rate back from supercritical to a steady state of a few megawatts. It is water moderated so I assume the massive burst of energy when it goes supercritical will boil the moderating water, making it far less efficient at moderating neutrons (moderation is effectively slowing down the emitted neutrons in the chain reaction to a speed where they will be absorbed by the fuel. Naturally, the speed at which the neurons are emitted is too high and they won't get absorbed by the fuel which is why you won't get a fuel rod suddenly start fissioning on its own unless you put it near some moderator) so, the higher the temperature in the reactor, the less dense the water moderator, so the less neutrons are moderated and the slower the reaction rate, bringing it back down to a steady state. So the reactor could run steadily without control rods but it's not something you would want to try in a power plant reactor.
[editline]20th November 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Funny;33358313]So what was actually happening in the video (for a slow person like me).[/QUOTE]
If you hit a uranium 235 atom with a neutron, it can 'fission' which means split into fragments, releasing lots of energy and some neutrons. These neutrons can then go on and hit other uranium atoms causing them to undergo fission and give a chain reaction. But there are two problems.
Firstly, each fission will release more than 1 neutron, and you dont want this because it's going to be an exponential reaction, like bacteria multiplying into 2 then 4 then 8... within a few generations you have millions of them. This is what happens in an atomic bomb, the amount of neutrons keep multiplying, which means the rate of fission keeps multiplying and you get an explosion. In a reactor you want 'control rods' which are rods of material that will absorb just enough neutrons so you only get 1 neutron per reaction, keeping the reaction rate steady. When the bright flash happens in the video, that's when they withdraw all the control rods turning the reactor supercritical as the reaction rate increases dramatically over a tiny space of time, just like with an atomic bomb. What stops it exploding is the second problem; moderation.
As I said above, the type of uranium used in most nuclear reactors needs slow neutrons, while the ones emitted from fission are fast. So to stop the reaction from dying you need a moderator that slows down the neutrons to a speed where they can be absorbed by the uranium. This reactor stops itself from exploding by using the massive amount of energy released when it goes supercritical to flash boil the moderator, which in this case is de-ionized water, which slows down the reaction until it falls back to a steady state.
Great Scott, you could power 28 DeLoreans with the energy released in those few milliseconds!
Wow , that's a lotta Cherenkov right htere
I think i got cancer just from watching it.
what are those black dots emerging?
Dark matter
It reminded me of Half-Life
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