Nuclear power plants use nuclear fission to produce heat, which is then used to generate electricity. The process works like this: Nuclear fission: A neutron hits a larger atom, causing it to split into two smaller atoms. This releases a large amount of energy. Heat is generated: The reactor causes a nuclear chain reaction that produces heat. Heat is transferred to a cooling agent: The heat warms a cooling agent, usually water, to produce steam. Steam spins a turbine: The steam spins a turbine, which converts the heat into mechanical energy. Kinetic energy is converted to electrical... Show more

Nuclear power plants use nuclear fission to produce heat, which is then used to generate electricity. The process works like this:
Nuclear fission: A neutron hits a larger atom, causing it to split into two smaller atoms. This releases a large amount of energy.
Heat is generated: The reactor causes a nuclear chain reaction that produces heat.
Heat is transferred to a cooling agent: The heat warms a cooling agent, usually water, to produce steam.
Steam spins a turbine: The steam spins a turbine, which converts the heat into mechanical energy.
Kinetic energy is converted to electrical energy: The generator converts the kinetic energy from the turbine into electrical energy. 

Nuclear power plants also have a cooling system that removes heat from the reactor core. The thermal energy from the cooling system can be used to produce electricity or other useful work. 
Nuclear power plants use nuclear fuel to function, usually uranium, but other elements, including plutonium, can also be used. The production of fuel for nuclear reactors and the handling of spent fuel after it has been removed from a reactor involve a number of industrial processes that taken together are known as the nuclear fuel cycle. 
Nuclear power plants produce waste with varying levels of radioactivity. The next generation of nuclear power plants will generate much less nuclear waste than today's reactors.

Show less