How Nuclear Power Works
Fission and what 200 MeV really means, the chain reaction and why delayed neutrons are the only reason a reactor can be controlled, reactivity feedback and the sign that destroyed Chernobyl, moderators and coolants, control and the xenon pit, the decay heat curve that explains most of the plant, reactor types, the fuel cycle, radiation dose stated correctly, the genuine argument about low doses, defense in depth, and the three accidents counted carefully.
Open the physics guideWhere Nuclear Power Stands
The world fleet and the two slogans that have outlived their accuracy, four institutions counting the US fleet four ways and why all four are right, the capacity factor improvement that made the fleet a third bigger with no new construction, license renewal to eighty years, the restarts that have not happened yet, what it costs to run an old plant against building a new one, 45U and what it actually does, and waste policy.
Open the industry guideThe Quizzes
In the order the guide covers them. Each one stands on its own — start wherever the subject interests you.
Fission and the Chain Reaction
What a fission event actually releases and how much of it arrives late, k-effective and why prompt neutrons alone could not be controlled, delayed neutrons and reactivity measured in dollars, the feedback signs, decay heat, and heat to power.
Reactors and the Fuel Cycle
Moderators and coolants and why the choice decides everything downstream, the six reactor families, control on three timescales including the xenon pit, enrichment levels, the fuel cycle from mine to dry cask, and reprocessing.
Radiation and Safety
The four quantities that all get called radiation, background and the regulatory limits, deterministic and stochastic effects, the real argument about low doses, defense in depth and risk assessment, and the three accidents counted carefully.
The Fleet, Cost and Policy
The world fleet and two slogans that outlived their accuracy, four institutions counting the US fleet four ways, the capacity factor nobody discusses, license renewal and the restarts that have not happened, cost, and waste policy.
Each quiz expands one part of a reference guide into 50 questions in six themes. Options are reshuffled every time you start, and every set was checked against all the others so no question is asked twice. One deliberate constraint runs through all of them: answer length carries no signal in either direction. Across all 200 questions the correct answer is the longest option 26 percent of the time and the shortest about as often, which is what chance would give you. Guarding only against the longest answer is how you end up with a set where picking the shortest wins.
Nearly every argument in this field that looks like a factual disagreement turns out to be two people quoting correctly measured numbers that measure different things: beta against beta-effective, thermal against net electrical, lower against higher heating value, licensed units against generators, one population boundary against another. These pages show both and name the difference. The three accidents are handled the same way: confirmed acute deaths, counted cancers in an identified cohort, and statistical projections from collective dose are three different questions, and no question here asks how many people died.