Product Idea
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The CROCUS Reactor - An Educational and Interactive Model for Everyone!
By
VilGoupil
850
supporters
248
days left
88 comments
On
Bonus 800+! / Part II - Reactor vessel
Thank you for taking this project past 800 supporters! 🙌 Your enthusiasm and shares are keeping the momentum strong. Let’s keep building together! 🧱🌟
Now that we understand why water is needed, let’s take a closer look at how it’s controlled. 💧💦
🔎 Spillway: this simple mechanism uses a blade that moves up and down, allowing water to overspill at a precise level from the vessel relative to the fuel. This clever design modifies moderation and, as a result, enables control reactor power! More than absorber rods, which are removable, this is the primary control of CROCUS.
- Water intake: To maintain the water level in our infinity-edge pool, a constant flow of about 160 liters per minute is required – roughly the equivalent of a bathtub every minute.
- Accuracy: What makes this spillway truly unique is not just the principle but the achieved accuracy – a remarkable 0.1 mm precision! This exceptional feature enables high-precision control of moderation, reactivity and power.
💡 Special thanks to Gilles Nahon for visiting us and sharing the beauty of CROCUS through his amazing photography! If you would like to take a look at the real CROCUS, you can check out his blog here.📝
📡 Your impact matters: vote and share to help bring this unique project to life! Together, we can make science a bit more accessible – one LEGO brick at a time. 🧩😊
Stay tuned for the next part – and thank you again for your incredible support! 🙏✨
On
Bonus 700+ / Part II - Reactor vessel
Thank you all for your incredible support! 💪😊 The recent mentions by various societies have clearly made a difference – your enthusiasm is driving this project forward! ☢
After exploring the core, let’s dive into the vessel. 💧
🔎 Water: the vessel surrounds the core with water, serving three key purposes:
- Moderator: During fission, neutrons are released at speeds too high to efficiently cause further fissions. We slow them down using the hydrogen of water, much like a cue ball bouncing around in a pool game.
- Reflector: By enclosing the core in water, some neutrons escaping the core are reflected back, boosting reactor efficiency.
Caloporter: Although CROCUS operates at a low maximum of 100 W (about ten times less than a kettle), and no significant heating occurs, water still helps fine-tune the system’s temperature. In most power reactors, water transports heat; here, it’s primarily for moderation and reflection.
💡 Want to know the full story behind this model and its educational mission? Check out this article!
📡 Keep sharing to help us reach new audiences! Every vote and share brings us closer to success. ✨
Stay tuned for the next part of this model reveal – coming soon! 🎉
On
Bonus... 600+! / Part I - Reactor Core
500+ a few days ago... and already 600+ now! A huge thank you to everyone! 🚀😊
It's definitely time to dive into the final details of the reactor core.♥️
🔎 Absorber rods: inserted into dedicated guide tubes within the core lattice, these two rods allow controlling the reactor's power... which is why they are also called control rods
- Composition: they contain boron carbide, with the isotope boron-10 being highly effective at absorbing thermal neutrons.
- Operation: they are inserted vertically from the top at specific axial positions, allowing for more or less absorption to regulate the fission chain reaction.
Keep sharing the project! 📡✨ Every share brings us closer to the next milestone of 1'000 supporters!
📝 Special thanks to the nuclear societies (Nuklearforum, American Nuclear Society, etc.) for spreading the word about the model! Your support is making a big difference.
Stay tuned for more insights on another part of the model coming soon! 🎉🧱
On
Bonus 400+ / Part I - Reactor Core
400 supporters! – To 1'000, and beyond! 🚀🙏
It's time for the next step of our journey into the core of CROCUS.♥️
🔎 Neutron detectors: placed outside the core but still close to the fuel, they measure the variation in neutron population, which relates to the rate of fission events and directly corresponds to reactor power!
They are two types:
- Compensated ionization chambers (yellow): these two large detectors are coated with boron-10. Neutron interactions with boron release charges that generate a measurable electronic current.
- Fission chambers (black): operating similarly, but using uranium-235 as the neutron converter, these two chambers serve as power monitors (they are calibrated), and are crucial for reactor safety systems (details coming soon).
"Voting is good, but sharing is better." Share the project, and let's make that multiplication factor work its magic! ☢📡✨
Next up: control systems! 😃
On
Bonus 300+ / Part I - Reactor Core
300 supporters achieved – thank you all! 💪🙏
Let’s continue our journey into the core of CROCUS.♥️
🔎 Core structures: they hold the fuel rods securely in place, arranged in a precise configuration that we will explore further shortly.
They consist of:
- Grids: the rods fit into holes at the top (superior grid) and the bottom (inferior grid),
- Base plate: the rods rest on this sturdy aluminum plate.
Please keep sharing on all platforms! 📡✨ More insights on the core soon! 😊
PS: I just saw that one of my students shared the project on Reddit r/legoideas, thanks a lot! 😃
On
Bonus 200+ / Part I - Reactor Core
200 supporters already – thank you all so much! 🙏🚀
Let’s explore the heart of CROCUS: the reactor core.
🔎 Uranium fuel: this is where the fission reaction happens. CROCUS uses uranium, with the fissile portion being the uranium-235 isotope (and not 238, or else).
There are two fuel zones:
- Inner rods: uranium dioxide, enriched to 2% U-235 (yellow),
- Outer rods: metallic uranium, enriched to 1% U-235 (red).
Let’s keep it going! Stay tuned for more updates on the core soon! 😊
On
100+
Thank you all for your support! 😃🙏
It's only the beginning, let’s keep it going! Please continue sharing with your friends, colleagues, and anyone who might appreciate this project. Together, we can make the CROCUS reactor a real LEGO set! 🚀 📡
Also, please let me know in the comments if you would like to see something special about it! 💡
By
VilGoupil
850
supporters
248
days left
88 comments
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