Nuclear reactor
device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction
A nuclear reactor is a device used to sustain a controlled fission nuclear chain reaction. They are used for commercial electricity, marine propulsion, weapons production, and research. Fissile nuclei (primarily uranium-235 or plutonium-239) absorb single neutrons and split, releasing energy and multiple neutrons, which can induce further fission. Reactors stabilize this, regulating neutron absorbers and moderators in the core. Fuel efficiency is exceptionally high; low-enriched uranium is 120,000 times more energy-dense than coal.
Heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid coolant. In commercial reactors, this drives turbines and electrical generator shafts. Some reactors are used for district heating, and isotope production for medical and industrial use.
After the discovery of fission in 1938, many countries launched military nuclear research programs. Early subcritical experiments probed neutronics.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Nuclear reactor” as device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q80877. The Library of Congress control number is sh85093071. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1938.
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This entry incorporates text from “Nuclear reactor” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.