thermal reactor
1
6.8
- noun
- /ˈθɜrməl riˈæktər/
- Specialized
:
reactor térmico
- In the safety assessment, the thermal reactor was found to meet all regulatory standards for operation.
Examples
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A thermal reactor can effectively utilize slow neutrons to sustain the nuclear fission process.
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It seems to have a number of advantages in a thermal reactor.
Blog text (32) -
You don't usually see that fast to thermal ratio in a thermal reactor, but it's the closest spectrum that I was easily able to get my hands on.
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So typical moderators in reactors, thermal reactors are deuterium and hydrogen.
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If we want to get rid of weapons-grade plutonium, it's much easier to just recycle it into the thermal reactors as 'mixed oxide' fuel.
Blog text (22) -
The researchers conducted experiments to improve efficiency in the thermal reactor by optimizing the moderator used.
Antonyms
- Specialized
1
8.4
A nuclear reactor that uses fast neutrons without a moderator to make energy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituents 'thermal' (related to heat) and 'reactor' (a device producing power) allow a learner to infer a reactor associated with heat or operating at particular temperatures, so there is some straightforward compositional clue. However, the precise technical sense—referring to neutrons slowed to thermal speeds by a moderator in nuclear physics—is specialized and not predictable from everyday meanings, so a B1 learner would not reliably derive the full meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
The term thermal reactor comes from the idea that thermal means neutrons are slowed until they move like warm particles and the reactor is the machine where those slow neutrons keep the nuclear reaction going. So, thermal reactor means 'a reactor kept going by neutrons slowed to thermal or heat-like speeds'.