/sci/ - Science & Math

1. Do a modicum of research HBO tard

2. Graphite rods are used as a moderator for neutrons emitted by the fuel rods, they just control the temperature of the core preventing overheating.

>>10724059
to blow up reactor!!!!

>>10724144
This man is delusional.

>>10724059
They were put there to enable better control over reactor reactivity, as when the control rod was extracted the graphite moderator would enhance the nuclear reaction.
The problem arose from rods being extracted fully, as then lowering them in an emergency you would first introduce the moderator before the control rod, temporarily enhancing the reaction before killing it. It was a shitty engineering solution that should never have occurred.

>>10724086
>Moderators reduce the temperature of the core
Anon, you need to do more research
A lot more research
You could not be further from be truth

>>10724086
I thought the RBMK reactor uses boron rods, only the tips are made out of graphite.

>>10724086
>2. Graphite rods are used as a moderator for neutrons emitted by the fuel rods, they just control the temperature of the core preventing overheating.
Graphite is not very good at absorbing neutrons, it slows them down to thermal speeds which improves the cross-section of the fission reaction. Uranium fission generates high velocity neutrons that redistribute their momentum by bumping into carbon nuclei and once they slow down there is a much higher chance of them interacting with a uranium nucleis in a fission-productive manner.

>>10724309
Not just the tips, the entire bottom half is graphite, so that when you pull out the boron, you actually replace it with graphite giving you a higher degree of control (imagine a car with steerable wheels in the front and back axles).
What happened in chernobyl was that they stupidly removed the control rods all the way, so even the graphite half was removed and replaced by water, which is a less effective moderator than graphite. This is only possible if you deactivate every single safety mechanism and afaik it was in no way needed for the test, but they were scared by the rapidly dropping power output so they did it anyways.
Then whem they pressed SCRAM the graphite parts were inserted first, replacing the water with a more effective moderator and boosting the reaction causing the accident.

>>10724328
so why are the tips graphite?

>>10724392
Did you read the first paragraph of that post?

>>10724059
www.google.com

>/sci/ - IQ blogging, race baiting, and clearing up questions I have about the new HBO original I'm watching

>>10724468
Don't forget schizoposting

>>10724324
This anon knows his nuclear reactor physics.
All other answers range from "meh" to "utter crap".