Types of Nuclear Reactors

Abstract

The first nuclear reactors were built to produce 239Pu for bombs. Subsequently, reactors have been used for many other purposes, of which electricity generation is now, by far, the most prominent. Further uses have been to propel ships (mostly naval vessels), to produce radioisotopes, and, to a limited extent, to supply heat. Many additional reactors have been built for teaching or research, much of the latter involving the study of the properties of materials under neutron bombardment and the intrinsic properties of neutrons and other subatomic particles.