initial criticality
-
NuclearFirst AP1000 Nuclear Units Reach Key Milestones
Two Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plants being constructed in China have successfully completed significant project milestones. Sanmen Unit 1—the world’s first AP1000 reactor—achieved initial criticality on June 21. Initial criticality is a nuclear industry term meaning the reactor’s neutron population has remained steady from one generation to the next and the nuclear fission chain reaction […]
-
NuclearWatts Bar Unit 2 Reactor Goes Critical (and That’s a Good Thing)
The Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) newest nuclear plant, Watts Bar Unit 2, achieved initial criticality on May 23 at 2:16 a.m. Although that may sound ominous to anyone untrained in nuclear terminology, initial criticality simply means that Watts Bar Unit 2 reached a state in which the reactor’s neutron population remained steady from one generation […]