I realize that this is a forum for people who want to make cheap power and nuclear power is in no way feasible by the average person minus the nuclear boy scout, but I feel the need to clear up a misconception.
In order to explain this subject I will briefly explain the fission process. The fission process basically works by neutrons acting like the projectile from a bullet that set off more bullets around it which in turn shoot projectiles. You control the amount of bullets(fission or power) going off by adding neutron(bullet) absorbing compounds or adding clumps of bullets. Adding clumps of bullet absorbing compounds(i.e. boron, hafnium, and xenon) allows the reactor to be more controllable. While adding clumps of high energy bullets (i.e. graphite, uranium) provides for higher power. A reactor is designed to place these two ti=hings in aprropriate portions of the core to prevent local hot spots due to excessive fission in a small volume. Heat is generated by the chaos of splitting atoms and neutrons flying around. That is a crash course in nuclear power, and by no means does it take into consideration all aspects which affect a nuclear reactors operation.
The misconception is that nuclear power is non renewable, isotopes(elements with non typical molecular arrangement) can absorb neutrons that escape the reactor to change their atomic state to higher energy less stable fissionable atoms. Like thorium undergoing nuetron captures to eventually become uranium which is fissionable. A reactor can start out with atoms at a non fissionable state, until a neutron emitting source pumps so many neutrons out that the non fissionable atoms become higher energy atoms which fission. The average fission produces 2.5 neutrons and the time it takes for those neutrons to cause fission is 1.0x10^-14 seconds. But in order for the reactor to not be too high of a temperature we can catch those extra 1.5 neutrons and use them to build up more abundant high atomic mass elements to a fissionable state.
Three mile island happened due to watchstanders not following their procedure. The relief valve that protects the metal reactor from breaking due to high pressure lifted and failed to reseat. The watchstanders failed to follow their procedures and verify that the relief valve reseated. Because the procedure is to isolate this valve and use the redundancy of the other relief valves for overpressure protection.
Chernobyl only happened because the person in charge of testing the unproven reactor did not understand the sheer magnitude of power being produced in the core. He insisted on bringing the reactor power up far higher than they had safely operated before and then they shot graphite into the portion of the core where the most fission was occuring, thuis caused a huge spike in power due to graphite pumping out more neutrons causing a rediculously high temperature causing a meltdown. Amazingly enough this was also caused by a violation in procedure.
Now it is up to admin to leave this post for people to be educated.
