nuclear reactor
42
4.8
- noun
- /ˈnjuːklɪər riˈæktər/
- Specialized
:
reactor nuclear
- This was the first working nuclear reactor in the world.
- operate nuclear reactors
- build nuclear reactors
- safe nuclear reactor
We've seen programs that can explode nuclear reactors like Stuxnet and others.
- We've seen programs that can explode nuclear reactors like Stuxnet and others.
- So don't feel bad if you can't remember how nuclear reactors work.
- Maybe we could just power cars with little nuclear reactors.
- Now they run all of their universities off of small nuclear reactors.
- You know, like a lot more people have died of air pollution than nuclear reactors, for example.
- Remember, Iran and Iraq were in a war together, and Iran bombed the Osaric nuclear reactor before Israel did.
- And in France, they haven't, they have some very advanced nuclear reactors and they're building and now they're building again.
- So I've separated out Taiwan as not a country, but Taiwan indeed does have commercial nuclear reactors.
- Plutonium isotopes are often used in nuclear reactors.
- And one of the reasons it's hard is you cannot easily untangle the tsunami from the nuclear reactor accident.
Examples
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Officials at the Fairwell Nuclear Power Plant continue to deny rumors that the power failure is due to a malfunction in the nuclear reactor.
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The new nuclear reactor is designed to produce energy safely and efficiently.
-
You know, we can use a nuclear reactor to provide all of our energy needs.
-
And you can take mass material and you can break it apart in a nuclear reactor and produce energy.
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This is a schematic of what a nuclear reactor looks like.
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Choice 3: Use a new generation of safer nuclear reactors to meet the growing needs for energy.
Academic text (1991) -
So I somehow ended up, bizarrely, with a job working in a nuclear reactor in the north of England.
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Nuclear reactors could provide power almost indefinitely.
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And that's why it's such big news that a new nuclear reactor has just been tested, one that is, in theory, meltdown proof.
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Bill Gates has financed a nuclear reactor in Wyoming that just started construction.
Synonyms
248
6.3
A machine that uses a controlled nuclear reaction to make energy or new elements
10
6.6
A machine that makes energy by joining atoms like the sun
2
8.4
An early nuclear reactor used to create a controlled chain reaction
1
8.1
A nuclear reactor where water boils in the core to make steam that turns a turbine
1
8.4
A reactor that makes more nuclear fuel than it uses
1
7.4
A nuclear reactor that uses water under high pressure to cool the core and make steam
1
4.3
A machine that splits atoms to make energy for electricity or research
1
7.0
A machine in a nuclear power plant that boils water to make steam to turn a turbine
1
8.4
A nuclear reactor that uses fast neutrons without a moderator to make energy
1
6.8
A nuclear power plant that makes electricity by splitting atoms with slow neutrons
1
7.0
A nuclear power system that uses high-pressure water to cool the core and make steam
A machine that makes nuclear energy by splitting atoms in a controlled chain reaction
An early device that makes energy by splitting atoms
A machine that uses water to take heat away from a nuclear core
A machine in a nuclear plant that uses gas to carry heat from the core
A machine that makes energy by joining atoms together in a controlled way
How Advanced
- Specialized
24
4.5
- Specialized
42
4.8
- Specialized
248
6.3
- Archaic
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derivable from 'nuclear' (relating to atomic nuclei/energy) + 'reactor' (a device in which reactions are carried out), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a device where nuclear reactions are conducted to produce energy. This follows a common noun–noun compounding pattern found across languages, increasing its predictability for learners.
Etymology
Nuclear reactor comes from the words nuclear, meaning the 'center of an atom', and reactor, a machine where a 'reaction' happens, so the name describes a machine where the centers of atoms react to 'produce energy'.