ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a study of nuclear particles and discusses how nuclear particles interact with each other and with the materials in a nuclear power plant. Reactor physics is the study of the behavior of these particles. Reactors produce several different types of nuclear particles, and in addition to affecting the structural materials in the core, they can also affect human beings who are exposed to them. The particles produced in the fuel rods of a nuclear reactor include: neutrons, protons, electrons, neutrinos, alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays. These nuclear particles can be subdivided into two categories: those that carry an electric charge; and those that do not carry an electric charge. The behavior of neutrons is of great practical importance to the nuclear power industry as a whole. The chapter reviews the types of reactions that can occur in a nuclear power plant. These are: elastic scattering, inelastic scattering, absorption and capture reactions, and nuclear fission reactions.
