ELI5: How does nuclear power work?

Nuclear power works by using the heat from splitting atoms to boil water and make electricity.

Imagine you have a really, really big pile of special rocks called uranium. These rocks are special because they are unstable, like a tower made of blocks that's about to fall.

• We take these uranium rocks and put them in a special machine called a nuclear reactor.
• Inside the reactor, we carefully make the uranium atoms split apart. This is like gently pushing the top block of our tower so it starts a chain reaction, and the whole tower collapses.
• When the atoms split, they release a lot of energy in the form of heat. It's like a tiny explosion, but we control it.
• This heat boils water, turning it into steam.
• The steam pushes a giant turbine, which is like a really fancy windmill.
• The turbine is connected to a generator, which uses the spinning motion to make electricity, like when you pedal a bike to power a light.
• The electricity then goes through wires to power our homes and schools.