Question

Write the function of the following parts of a nuclear reactor along with material used in making it.
a. Control rod
b. Moderator

Answer 1

To control the fission rate of uranium and plutonium, control rods are used in the nuclear reactor and a moderator is used in a nuclear reactor to slow down the neutrons.

Complete step by step solution:
First we write the functions of the control rod.
Cadmium or boron make up the control rods. This control rod has the purpose of effectively absorbing the neutron. It can also be used to make the reactor shut down.
To stabilise the chain reaction, the moderator helps slow down the neutrons created by fission. To decrease the reaction rate, control rods can then be inserted into the reactor core or removed to increase it. The fission-generated heat converts the water into steam, which spins a turbine to create electricity that is carbon-free.
To control the fission rate of uranium or plutonium, control rods are used in nuclear reactors. Their compositions include chemical elements capable of consuming several neutrons without fissioning themselves, such as boron, cadmium, silver, or indium.

We write the functions of the moderator.
As a moderator, heavy water and graphite are used. Slowing down the neutrons that are released in the fission reaction is the function of the moderator.
Moderators are a kind of material that acts to slow down the fast neutrons in a nuclear reactor.
Slow neutrons strike uranium nuclei, causing fission, or breaking, of the nuclei and releasing fast neutrons. The fast neutrons are absorbed or slowed by a graphite moderator's nuclei, which allows the fission chain reaction to proceed at a constant rate with just enough slow neutrons.

Note: A nuclear reactor is a system used for initiating and regulating a self-sustained nuclear chain reaction, formerly known as an atomic mound. In nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion, nuclear reactors are used.
The release of energy from splitting the atoms of certain elements is generated and regulated by a nuclear reactor. The energy emitted is used as heat in a nuclear power reactor to make steam to generate electricity. (The main aim of a research reactor is to use the real neutrons that are generated in the core.