Types of Reactors
Even though a nuclear reactor can be defined in different ways, almost all reactors except fusion reactor (commercially nonexistent) can be defined as follows: “A nuclear reactor is a device, designed to produce and sustain a long term, controlled fission chain reaction, and made with carefully selected and strategically placed collection of various materials.” The classification of reactors vary and are generally based on the following: type of fission reaction (thermal, epithermal, and fast reactors), purpose of the reactor (power reactors, research reactors, and test reactors), type of the coolant present (such as light/heavy water reactors, gas-cooled reactors, and liquid metal-cooled reactors), type of core construction (cubical, cylindrical, octagonal, and spherical reactors), and so forth.
1.8.1