Nuclear reactor coolants
Nick Touran
Nuclear reactor coolants
By Dr. Nick Touran, Ph.D., P.E., 2025-03-20, Reading time: 21 minutes
The objective of most nuclear reactors is to unleash the energy within nuclear bonds and put it to work for some practical purpose. We normally induce a nuclear fission chain reaction in a fuel material, where the recoiling nuclei of fission products deposit their vast energy locally. As the fuel heats, the laws of thermodynamics kick in to dissipate the heat to the ambient environment.
At low power...