- Biology
- Ready-made model
- Printed report included
Nuclear Power Plant Readymade Science Working Project & Model in Chemistry with Multicolor Running Lights(with Printed Report)
Code B099R239NC
- Paid for and delivered by Amazon. The current price and the delivery date for your PIN code are shown there.
- Sold by Gurukul Technicals Institute, Delhi.
- Need a different topic, a custom version or a school order? Ask on WhatsApp.
In this project guide
Ready-made model
About this model
This working model of a nuclear power plant shows how energy from splitting atoms is turned into electricity, step by step from reactor to generator. The listing says it has multicolour running lights and a printed report.
How it works
The science behind it
The idea the model demonstrates, in words you can use in your report and when you explain it.
A nuclear power plant gets its heat from nuclear fission. When a slow neutron strikes a uranium-235 nucleus, the nucleus splits into two smaller nuclei, for example ²³⁵U + ¹n → ¹⁴¹Ba + ⁹²Kr + 3 ¹n + energy. About 200 MeV is released per fission because the products have slightly less total mass than the starting particles, and the lost mass becomes energy according to E = mc². The neutrons released can split more uranium nuclei, giving a chain reaction. A moderator, such as heavy water, slows the neutrons so they cause fission more easily, and control rods of boron or cadmium absorb extra neutrons to keep the reaction steady. A coolant carries the heat away to make steam, which spins a turbine connected to a generator. So the energy chain is nuclear → heat → kinetic → electrical. India runs several such plants, including Tarapur in Maharashtra and Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu.
Make it yourself
Make a nuclear power plant model with running lights yourself
Build your own version from scratch, or use the steps to understand how the ready-made model is put together before you present it.
What you need 9
Step by step 9 steps
Plan the layout as a flow: reactor building, steam generator, turbine hall with generator, transformer and power line, with the cooling tower beside them.
Make the reactor building from a card cylinder topped with the half ball, and cut a window in its side to show the core, fuel rods and control rods.
Build the cooling tower from rolled card, narrower at the middle, with a puff of cotton wool at the top for steam.
- Lay the straw pipes
Red from the reactor to the steam generator and on to the turbine, and blue for the cooling water returning.
Build the chaser on a breadboard: the 555 as an astable clocking pin 14 of the 4017, pins 8, 13 and 15 to negative, pin 16 to positive, and an LED with its resistor on each output.
Fix the LEDs along the pipes in output order, so the light seems to travel from the reactor to the turbine and out along the power line.
Fit the motor and fan in the turbine hall, wired to its own two cells through its own switch. Keep this circuit completely separate from the 9 V circuit, so the two batteries are never joined.
Test everything, then hide the circuit and batteries under the base where you can still reach both switches.
Add clear labels and a short card explaining each stage of the energy change.
Read this first
Safety first
Go through these points before you build or switch anything on. Younger students should do this with an adult.
- Show steam with cotton wool only; never use a kettle, candle, incense or dry ice in the model.
- Ask an adult to use the cutter and the glue gun, and to spray any paint outdoors.
- Keep fingers away from the spinning fan blade and switch off before adjusting it.
- Use only the battery packs; do not connect any part of the model to a wall socket.
Troubleshooting
If something does not work
The usual problems with this model and how to fix them. Open a problem to see the fix.
None of the chaser LEDs light
Check that pins 8 and 13 of the 4017 go to negative and pin 16 to positive, and that each LED's long leg faces its 4017 output.
All the LEDs glow faintly together
The 555 may be running too fast for the eye to follow, or pin 15 is unconnected and the count is erratic. Use a larger timing capacitor and connect pin 15 to negative.
The lights run too fast or too slow
Change the 555's timing capacitor or resistor, or fit a preset in place of the resistor so the speed can be adjusted.
The turbine fan does not spin
The blade may be too heavy or rubbing on the walls, or the cells may be weak. Free the blade and fit fresh cells.
Exhibition day
How to present it
A running order for the exhibition table or the practical, step by step.
Follow the energy chain from reactor to turbine to generator, pointing to each stage.
Write the fission equation on a chart and check that the mass numbers and atomic numbers balance.
Explain the roles of the moderator and the control rods, which are favourite viva questions.
Discuss both sides: low carbon emissions, but also radioactive waste and the need for strict safety.
Practice
Viva questions
Practice questions on this model, with short answers. Try each one aloud before you open the answer.
What is nuclear fission?
The splitting of a heavy nucleus, such as uranium-235, into two lighter nuclei, releasing a large amount of energy and a few neutrons.
What is the role of control rods?
They absorb extra neutrons and so control the rate of the chain reaction.
Why is a moderator used?
It slows down fast neutrons, because slow neutrons are much more likely to cause fission in uranium-235.
Which equation explains the energy released in fission?
Einstein's equation E = mc², by which a small loss of mass appears as a large amount of energy.
Project file
Project file outline
The headings of the project file, in order. Give each heading its own section and write it in your own words.
The listing includes a printed project report: use this outline to check that your own file covers every part.
Free ebook: Writing a Science Project FileContents
- Aim: to show how heat from nuclear fission is turned into electricity in a nuclear power plant
- Materials
- Parts of the plant and their functions
- Energy conversion from nuclear energy to electrical energy
- How the running-light circuit shows the flow of energy
- Safety systems: moderator, control rods, coolant and containment
- Advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power, including radioactive waste
- Conclusion
- References
Buying checklist
Before you buy
What to check before you order the model.
1Check these first
- Sources of energy is a popular exhibition theme; check that a nuclear plant matches the topic your teacher has set for your class.
- Check in the listing what powers the running lights and whether batteries are included.
- If a printed report comes with it, add your own diagrams and notes on nuclear power in India from your textbook or another reliable source.
- Switch it on at home a few days before the exhibition and carry spare batteries.
- Keep the box for transport; domes, towers and LEDs break easily in a school bag.
- Check the delivery date for your PIN code on the marketplace, and order well before the exhibition or practical.
- Practise explaining it. Judges ask what the model shows and why; knowing the science matters as much as the model. The viva questions above are a good place to start.
Next steps
Take it further
Ways to turn this model into a bigger investigation or a stronger exhibition entry.
Add a slider that lowers card control rods into the core while a variable resistor dims the reactor LED, to show how the reaction is slowed.
Show a chain reaction with dominoes set out to branch, and a second set with gaps to show control rods stopping it.
Place a coal power plant beside it to show that only the heat source differs.
Audience
Who it suits
Suits Class 10 and 12 physics and chemistry exhibitions on sources of energy and nuclear physics.
- SubjectBiology
- TypeReady-made model
- Project reportPrinted report included
Free to read
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Free PDF ebooks from Gurukul Technicals Institute on the science, the making and the presenting of projects like this one.
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Your Science Exhibition Guide
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Writing a Science Project File
How to write the report, from the cover page to the bibliography
