How do nuclear power plants use steam turbines and generators to make electricity?

Nuclear power plants generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fission to produce steam, which then drives a turbine connected to an electric generator.12

The process typically functions as follows:

• Heat Generation: Inside a nuclear reactor, uranium fuel undergoes fission, releasing significant heat. This heat is absorbed by a primary water loop.12
• Steam Production: The primary loop transfers its heat to a secondary water circuit through a heat exchanger, which acts as a boiler. This secondary circuit produces the steam.1
• Mechanical Energy: The high-pressure steam is directed into a steam turbine, where it impinges against blades mounted on a rotor. This force causes the rotor to spin at high speeds, converting the thermal energy of the steam into mechanical energy.3
• Electricity Generation: The rotating turbine shaft drives an electric generator, which converts the mechanical rotation into electric power.32

While nuclear plants operate at lower steam temperatures and pressures than some fossil-fuel plants to accommodate reactor material limitations, they rely on the same fundamental principles of steam-driven power generation.42