fast reactor
noun
Simple meaning
Nuclear reactor in which nuclear fissions are caused by fast neutrons because little or no moderator is used.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fastreeakterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfæstɹiˈæktɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
nuclear physicsengineering
Nuclear reactor in which nuclear fissions are caused by fast neutrons because little or no moderator is used
nuclear physicsengineering
A nuclear reactor with no moderator, using fast neutrons directly in a controlled fission chain reaction without slowing them down, allowing for a much more compact reactor which uses fissile material much more efficiently and generates larger quantities of high-energy neutrons which can be used for breeding more fissile material or producing other useful radioactive nuclides, but requiring the use of highly-enriched uranium (at least 20% uranium-235) or other fuel containing a similarly high concentration of fissile material.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: Nuclear reactor in which nuclear fissions are caused by fast neutrons because little or no moderator is used
Used this way, fast reactor is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.