1. Nuclear reactors are used in a variety of ways as sources for energy, for irradiations, and to produce special materials by transmutation reactions.
2. The alkali metals, in particular, have excellent properties and extremely low vapor pressures at temperatures of interest for power generation.
3. The energy transferred to the coolant, as it flows past the fuel element, is stored in it in the form of sensible heat and pressure and is called the of the fluid.
4. Structural materials employed in reactor systems must possess suitable nuclear and physical properties and must be compatible with the reactor under the conditions of operation.
5. A reactor consists basically of a mass of fissionable material usually encased in shielding and provided with devices to regulate the rate of fission and an exchange system to extract the heat energy produced.
6. If the chain reaction sustained a nuclear reactor produces enough heat to damage the reactor itself, that heat must be carried off constantly by a gas or liquid as long as the reactor is operating.
7. Nuclear fuel is any material that can be consumed derive nuclear energy, by analogy to chemical fuel that is burned to derive energy.
8. Plutonium sufficiently pure to be used in a bomb is termed bomb-grade or weapons-grade plutonium, and the process of extracting plutonium from nuclear fuel is termed reprocessing.
9. In a fusion reactor, the principal problem is the containment of the plasma fuel, which must be a temperature of millions of degrees in order to initiate the reaction.
10. For liquid cooled reactors (especially those that water as coolant) the temperature coefficient is closely linked to the reactor's void coefficient.