pressurized water reactor
- noun
- /ˈprɛʃəˌraɪzd ˈwɔːtər riˈæktər/
- Specialized
- The amount of uranium fuel needed—about 35 metric tons per GWe year—is only one-sixth of what is used by a pressurized water reactor.
- use of the pressurized water reactor
Examples
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The pressurized water reactor at Shippingport, Pa., based on technology adopted by the Navy, was favored by President Eisenhower and Admiral Rickover.
Academic text (2007) -
The pressurized water reactor, or PWR, was also preferred by Admiral Hyman Rickover, the father of the nuclear Navy.
Academic text (2007) -
Thus, the use of the pressurized water reactor for electric power generation was probably inevitable.
Academic text (2007) -
France standardized on the pressurized water reactor.
Academic text (2007) -
While the pressurized water reactor required more equipment than the boiling water alternative, the PWR was easier to analyze.
Academic text (2007) -
Westinghouse, on one hand, has the pressurized water reactor called AP1000.
Academic text (2007) -
The boiling water and pressurized water reactors were competing concepts in 1957.
Academic text (2007) -
This technique has since become the industry standard for channel-head chemical decontamination in pressurized-water reactors.
Academic text (1996) -
The two accident scenarios, which he has studied in detail, are loss of coolant accidents in pressurized water reactors and instabilities for the current and advanced versions of boiling water reactors.
Academic text (1998) -
The Fort Calhoun nuclear plant uses a single, pressurized water reactor that delivers some 476 megawatts of power.
Synonyms
A machine that uses a controlled nuclear reaction to make energy or new elements
A machine that makes heat and electricity by splitting atoms in a controlled way
A nuclear reactor that uses water under high pressure to cool the core and make steam
A machine that splits atoms to make energy for electricity or research
Surface Forms
Morphology
pressurize + water + reactor
The phrase is compositionally transparent: 'pressurized' (under pressure) modifies 'water', and together they describe the kind of 'reactor' — i.e. a reactor that uses water kept under pressure. Although it is a technical term with additional specifics (coolant/moderator roles), the core meaning is directly derivable from the constituent words and would be understandable to a learner who knows them.
Etymology
The noun pressurized water reactor comes from a simple picture: it is a reactor where water is kept pressurized so it does not boil inside the reactor. That high-pressure water both 'cools' the reactor and carries heat to 'make steam', so the name tells you it is a reactor using 'pressurized water' to do both jobs.