3 ms·
These numbers are way off. Power reactors run with a few percent enrichment at most. 90% enrichment is deep in weapons territory. Reactors use slow neutrons th
by fsh 5y ago
These numbers are way off. Power reactors run with a few percent enrichment at most. 90% enrichment is deep in weapons territory.
Reactors use slow neutrons that have thermalized in moderators. Due to the much higher fission cross section at low neutron velocities, they reach criticality at much lower 235U densities compared to nuclear weapons. In fact, this is a serious danger in nuclear fuel production. In 1999 there was a criticality accident in a nuclear fuel production facility in Japan that killed two workers [1].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokaimura_nuclear_accidents#1999_accident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokaimura_nuclear_accidents#19...