The most notable cataclysm in the history of nuclear powerwas the solvent of many little problems — but perhaps the most of import problem was the unrecognised presence of a “ neutron poison . ”
On April 26 , 1986 , an accident occurred during a systems mental test at the Chernobyl Power Plant in Ukraine , require an explosion and a 10 - day outbreak of fire that retch radioactive particle into the atmosphere — 400 times more radioactive material than fall after the bombardment of Hiroshima . Over 50 workers were killed , and the surrounding arearemained closed to visitant until 2011 .
atomic reactor change their chemical composition over sentence . Atoms are bombarded by neutrons , which makes them split apart , unfreeze both free energy and more neutrons , which start the cycle over again . When fissile material splits , it does n’t just vanish . Among the products of fission are nitty-gritty called “ neutron poisons . ” These isotope suck up neutrons , especially neutrons going a certain speed , and can retard down or stop the reaction .
On average you desire to get more than one neutron out than you put in , running the reactor properly at the head of criticality . Yet you do n’t require the neutron retaking rate to be too high . Itall come down to the byproducts .
The most renowned of these is xenon-135 . Xenon-135isn’t a verbatim product of fission , butiodine-135is . Iodine-135 has a half - life of about 6.5 hours , and decline by turning one of its neutron into a proton . The new - made xenon-135 sucks down neutrons , but a high enough rate of bombardment can basically feed it all the neutrons it can take and destroy it as a toxicant . With the xenon-135 destroyed , the charge per unit of the reaction goes back up .
The trouble bug out when the reactor is n’t at a high enough great power point to sunburn off the xenon-135 . After a time , the atomic number 54 cumulate , poison the reactor and decreasing its productiveness more and more .
In the typesetter’s case of the Chernobyl disaster , a reactor ’s chemical reaction level was deliberately lower during a examination sequence , which meant the iodine-135 was still accumulating and decaying , but the xenon-135 was n’t getting clear by . MT
The people take to the woods the exam were not aware of this accumulation , so they pull out the control perch , which also soaked up neutron . This really increase the reaction rate by efface the xenon-135 , over - hot up the core . The result was one of the biggest atomic disasters in account , and all for a lack of poison .
ChernobylPhysicsScience
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