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Boiling water reactor (BWR) Schematic layout of a boiling water reactor (click to enlarge) (illustration: GRS) Boiling water reactors have a closed water-steam cycle. In the cooling water system, the read more

Decommissioning of nuclear facilities The decommissioning of nuclear facilities is a challenge countries utilising nuclear power must address. After the end of their operational life, nuclear power pl read more

Principles of radiation protection Ionising radiation may produce deterministic and stochastic effects. Deterministic effects only occur once a threshold of exposure (i.e. a specific dose) has been ex read more

Types of ionising radiation There are various types of ionising radiation: Alpha radiation Alpha radiation is a form of particle radiation. Alpha particles are helium-4 nuclei: they consist of two pro read more

Atoms and radioactivity Atoms Gases, liquids and solids are composed of atoms. It was once thought that atoms could not be split: the word atom comes from átomos , an ancient Greek word meaning "indiv read more

Nuclear fission The protons and neutrons are held together in the nucleus of an atom by the strong force there, which only operates over an extremely short distance. In order to induce nuclear fission read more

Abbreviations Abbreviation Meaning AtG Atomic Energy Act AtSMV Nuclear Safety Officer and Reporting Ordinance BASE Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management BfS Federal Office for Radi read more

Ionising radiation Radiation transports energy. The energy is transported in the form of electromagnetic waves via photons (= light quanta/light particles), as with visible light, X-radiation or gamma read more

Nuclear reactors – how they work In a nuclear power plant, controlled nuclear fission generates heat in the reactor core. The heat is used to produce steam. The steam drives a turbine connected to a g read more

Physics Atoms may have a stable or an unstable nucleus. Atoms with an unstable nucleus can decay spontaneously without any external influence. During decay, ionising radiation is produced. This is kno read more