difference between control rods and safety rods in nuclear reactor.
Answers
Answer:
A control rod is a device that is used to absorb neutrons so that the nuclear chain reaction taking place within the reactor core can be slowed down or stopped completely by inserting the rods further, or accelerated by removing them slightly.[2] Essentially, control rods provide real-time control of the fission process, ensuring that it remains active while preventing it from accelerating out of control.
Uranium-235 fission releases 2.5 neutrons on average, but only one neutron is needed to sustain the nuclear chain reaction at a steady rate. The control rods absorb these extra neutrons and can be used to adjust the power output of the reactor.
Safety rod:
A reactor’s fuel must conform to the integral design of the reactor as well as the mechanisms that drive its operations. Following are brief descriptions of the fuel materials and configurations used in the most important types of nuclear reactors, which are described in greater detail in Types of reactors.
Nuclear fuel rods and control rods arranged by grid spacers into a fuel assembly for a pressurized-water reactor.
Nuclear fuel rods and control rods arranged by grid spacers into a fuel assembly for a pressurized-water reactor.
The light-water reactor (LWR), which is the most widely used variety for commercial power generation in the world, employs a fuel consisting of pellets of sintered uranium dioxide loaded into cladding tubes of zirconium alloy or some other advanced cladding material. The tubes, called pins or rods, measure approximately 1 cm (less than half an inch) in diameter and roughly 3 to 4 metres (10 to 13 feet) in length. The tubes are bundled together into a fuel assembly, with the pins arranged in a square lattice. The uranium used in the fuel is 3 to 5 percent enriched. Since light (ordinary) water, used in LWRs as both the coolant and the moderator, tends to absorb more neutrons than other moderators do, such enrichment is crucial.
Control Rods
A control rod is a device that is used to absorb neutrons so that the nuclear chain reaction taking place within the reactor core can be slowed down or stopped completely by inserting the rods further, or accelerated by removing them slightly.
Safety Rods
The most important function of the safety rods is to shut down the reactor, either when such a shutdown is scheduled or in case of a real or suspected emergency. These rods contain enough absorber to terminate a chain reaction under any conceivable condition