A nuclear power plant employs fuel that is 100%235U. The average energy released per fission is 200MeV. The plant delivers an electrical power output of 1000MWe with an overall efficiency of 33% (i.e., one-third of the thermal energy is converted to electricity).
(i) Calculate the thermal power that must be produced in the reactor core.
(ii) Determine the number of fissions occurring per second in the core.
(iii) Compute the mass of 235U consumed in one full day of continuous operation.
(iv) Estimate the total mass of 235U that would be consumed in one year (365 days) of uninterrupted operation.