Spent nuclear fuel: Spent nuclear fuel, also called used nuclear fuel, is the fuel that has undergone a reactor campaign and is no longer useful for sustaining the nuclear fission chain reaction in a thermal reactor. Spent fuel discharged from a power reactor contains residual 235U and converted plutonium, as well as fission-product and transuranic wastes. Spent nuclear fuel is highly …
Nuclear Power Plants in India: Nuclear energy is an important component of the country’s energy mix and is being pursued along with other sources of energy in an optimal manner. It is a clean, environment friendly base load source of power available 24X7. It also has huge potential which can ensure long term energy security of the country in …
Pressurized Water Reactor: It is a type of light water reactor that uses ordinary water as the moderator and coolant. The PWR plant is the most common type of nuclear power reactor in the world. The Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) are fuelled by Natural Uranium while Light Water Reactors (LWRs) are fuelled by Low Enriched Uranium. …
What is Daylight Harvesting? Daylight Harvesting is a method of saving the energy costs associated with lighting. It makes use of the available sunlight. The solar energy spectrum has 45% energy as visible light and this can be used to harvest building illumination for about 9-11 hours a day. It is one of the most advanced techniques used in sustainable lighting …
International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER): ITER is a unique partnership of nations jointly responsible for the construction, operation, and decommissioning of an experimental fusion facility. ITER being an experimental reactor, it will allow the study of fusion reaction which governs the Sun and other Stars. Nuclear fusion will take place in the form of Plasma …
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Piezoelectric Effect: Piezoelectric Effect is the ability of certain materials to generate an electric charge in response to applied mechanical stress. One of the unique characteristics of the piezoelectric effect is that it is reversible, meaning that materials exhibiting the direct piezoelectric effect (the generation of electricity when stress is applied) also exhibit the converse …
Nuclear Reactions: A nuclear reaction is the process in which two nuclei, or a nucleus and an external subatomic particle, collide to produce one or more new nuclides. Thus, a nuclear reaction must cause a transformation of at least one nuclide to another. Types: Nuclear Fission: The nucleus of an atom splits into two daughter nuclei. This decay can be natural spontaneous splitting by radioactive decay, or …
Type of Nuclear Reactions Nuclear Fission / Fusion – UPSC Prelims Read More »
Renewable Energy in India: India’s renewable energy capacity, excluding large hydroelectric projects, hit 100 GW (gigawatts), making it the world’s fourth largest in terms of total installed green energy capacity. The 100 GW renewable capacity accounts for 26% of India’s total installed generation capacity of 383 GW. It should be noted that in 2015, India …
Ethanol Blending: Ethanol blending is the practice of blending petrol with ethanol. Many countries, including India, have adopted ethanol blending in petrol in order to reduce vehicle exhaust emissions and also to reduce the import burden on account of crude petroleum from which petrol is produced. The renewable ethanol content is expected to result in …
Tokamak A tokamak is a machine that confines a plasma using magnetic fields in a donut shape that scientists call a torus. The tokamak is one of several types of magnetic confinement devices being developed to produce controlled thermonuclear fusion power. As of 2021, it is the leading candidate for a practical fusion reactor. In a tokamak, magnetic field coils confine plasma …