Nuclear Energy

In order to explain how a Nuclear power station works, here is a brief description of how a chain reaction is achieved in order to produce an energy supply.
I will only touch on the basics, as to go in to detail would result in a project in its self.
A chain reaction is a sequence of events where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events.
A single fission event can yield over 200 million times the energy of the neutron which triggered it.
The usable energy from this reaction is extracted and used to heat water which in turn produces steam. Very much like a conventional fossil fuelled power station, the steam controls a turbine, thus making it possible to create electricity.
A cooling system removes heat from the reactor core and transports it to another area of the power plant, where the thermal energy can be harnessed to produce electricity. The hot coolant is then used as a heat source for a boiler, and the pressurized steam from that boiler will power one or more steam turbines.
The first power station to produce electricity for experimental purposes opened in 1954 in Obninsk, about 100 Kms from Moscow. For 10 years it was the only Nuclear power station in the Soviet Union. This plant ceased operating in 2002.
The worlds first Nuclear power station to produce electricity in commercial quantities was opened in Sellafield in the north of England in 1956. The power station continued to provide electricity for 47 years until its closure in 2003. The four towers were famously demolished by controlled explosion in September 2007.