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luckyluke193 t1_ivshs0u wrote

Reply to comment by 2science in Why do neutrons tend to interact more readily with light nuclei rather than heavy ones (i.e., why is water a better neutron shield than lead)? by Calgaris_Rex

You generally don't want to fill a nuclear reactor with a highly explosive liquid.

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mikmckn t1_ivu92ao wrote

As long as you don't allow any oxygen in, hydrogen is pretty tame. That's one of the safety issues with compromised water cooled reactors; the heat causes the water to split into it's component atoms and you end up with pure hydrogen, pure oxygen and a whole lot of heat.

That's why it's important to keep water on your core.

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