Pressurized water reactor

A light-water nuclear reactor that keeps water under high pressure so it remains liquid in the core. Heat passes from this primary coolant to a separate water loop that produces steam.

Nuclear fission: The splitting of an atomic nucleus into lighter nuclei, releasing energy and neutrons. Fission in the core supplies the heat that the pressurized coolant carries away.
Light water: Ordinary water, composed mainly of hydrogen-1 and oxygen-16, as distinct from heavy water. It serves as both coolant and neutron moderator in most pressurized water reactors.
Boiling water reactor: A light-water reactor in which water boils in the core and steam flows directly to the turbine. It contrasts with the PWR’s steam generator and nonboiling primary coolant.
Nuclear power plant: An electricity-generating facility that uses heat from nuclear fission to drive turbines. Most PWRs operate as the heat source in nuclear power plants.
Reactor pressure vessel: The thick-walled vessel that contains a nuclear reactor core and its primary coolant. It confines the core and coolant at the high pressure required to suppress boiling.
Nuclear reactor core: The region of a nuclear reactor containing fuel and the materials needed to sustain and control fission. The core is where fuel assemblies, control rods, and coolant interact.
Heavy water reactor: A nuclear reactor that uses deuterium oxide as coolant, moderator, or both. Its heavy-water moderator differs from the ordinary water used in a PWR.
Nuclear marine propulsion: The use of nuclear reactors to provide propulsion power for ships and submarines. Naval vessels commonly use compact pressurized water reactors to produce shaft power.
Pressurizer: A vessel connected to a reactor’s primary loop that controls coolant pressure using heat and spray. It stabilizes primary-loop pressure as coolant temperature and volume change.
Nuclear fuel: Material containing fissile nuclides that releases energy through sustained nuclear fission. Fuel assemblies provide the fissile material that heats the primary water.

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