Nuclear security

What Makes a Nuclear Reactor 'Fail-Safe?'

When things go wrong at a nuclear power plant, they can go very wrong. The reality is that outside of some high-profile disasters, nuclear power is extremely safe. But what does it mean when people say that a nuclear reactor is “fail-safe?”

YouTuber Randy Dobson has put together a quick little video explanation that demystifies the meaning of fail-safe when its applied to nuclear reactors.

The answer lies in some basic understanding of how a nuclear reaction is being created. Both nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors rely on fission to produce a powerful chain reaction. But in the case of a reactor, the stages of the process are carefully separated and the process is slower.