Nuclear binding-energy difference → Mechanical work

Matrix context

D = disequilibrium row · C = coupling family column. A cell reads the state of the atlas for that pair.

D.20 × C.27 · Nuclear binding-energy difference × Nuclear heatfamily: Nuclear heatD.20 × C.08 · Nuclear binding-energy difference × Heat engine (thermomechanical)family: Heat engine (thermomechanical)D.20 × C.24 · Nuclear binding-energy difference × Turbomachineryfamily: Turbomachinery

Typed bounds on this route

Every limit the atlas holds for this route, as constraint records: reached through bounded_by claims on the route's own entities. Hard bounds (an upper bound or a formula) decide the thermodynamic-bound check above; benchmarks, constitutive relations and resource limits are listed and never decisive. No prose limit exists anywhere (pass 42).

• Betz limit · upper-bound · hard, filtered out by its applicability
  C_p ≤ 16/27 ≈ 59.3% of the kinetic power through the rotor disc

Steps

1. 01
   Nuclear binding-energy difference —drives→ Nuclear fissionestablishedclaim record

   nuclear → kinetic · loss to radiative

   • for neutron-induced fission: a fissionable nuclide and an incident neutron in an energy range with non-zero fission cross-section
   • critical geometry is required only for a self-sustaining chain reaction; a moderator is reactor-design dependent

   About 200 MeV per event, almost all as fragment kinetic energy (Frisch 1939); thermalisation is a separate step.

   refs [1] [2]
2. 02
   Nuclear fission —produces→ Hot gasestablishedclaim record

   kinetic → thermal · loss to radiative

   • fission heating produces a vapour or gas working fluid in a DIRECTLY heated, same-circuit configuration: the reactor coolant itself boils in the vessel and its steam goes to the turbine (a boiling-water reactor), or the fissioning or fission-heated gas is the working medium (a gas-core or fissioning-plasma reactor)
   • not a pressurised-water reactor: there fission heats a pressurised liquid whose heat crosses a steam generator into a separate secondary circuit — the heat exchanger, not the core, makes the turbine's steam, and that topology belongs to the system layer, never hidden inside this claim (pass 38)

   refs [3] [4]
3. 03
   Hot gas —drives→ Gas-dynamic expansionestablishedclaim record

   thermal → kinetic · loss to thermal

   • the gas has an upstream pressure state above the downstream nozzle or duct pressure

   gas

   refs [5] [6]
4. 04
   Gas-dynamic expansion —produces→ Bulk fluid flowestablishedclaim record

   kinetic → kinetic

   • a directed high-speed gas stream leaves the nozzle — the disequilibrium whose content is bulk fluid motion

   refs [6] [5]
5. 05
   Bulk fluid flow —drives→ Aerodynamic and hydrodynamic liftestablishedclaim record

   kinetic → mechanical · loss to thermal

   • a rotor whose blades meet the stream at a working angle of attack

   bulk flow required

   refs [7] [8]
6. 06
   Aerodynamic and hydrodynamic lift —produces→ Mechanical motionestablishedclaim record

   mechanical → mechanical

   refs [8]
7. 07
   Mechanical motion —converts into→ Mechanical workestablishedclaim record

   mechanical → mechanical · loss to thermal

   refs [3]

Evidence for the complete composition · 0

No source on record for this exact composition. The sources below support the individual steps, not the route as a whole.

Evidence for the constituent relations · 8

1. [1]
   O. Hahn, F. Strassmann. Über den Nachweis und das Verhalten der bei der Bestrahlung des Urans mittels Neutronen entstehenden Erdalkalimetalle (1939)

   Naturwissenschaften 27, 11–15 · doi:10.1007/BF01488241 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
2. [2]
   O. R. Frisch. Physical evidence for the division of heavy nuclei under neutron bombardment (1939)

   Nature 143, 276 · doi:10.1038/143276a0 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
3. [3]
   A. Bejan. Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics (4th ed.) (2016)

   Wiley · doi:10.1002/9781119245964 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
4. [4]
   U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Boiling Water Reactors — how a typical commercial BWR works (2025)

   nrc.gov · www.nrc.gov/reactors/power/bwrs · record
5. [5]
   NASA Glenn Research Center. Nozzle Design (Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics) (2024)

   NASA Glenn Research Center, Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics; page dated 2021-08-06, modified 2024-09-12 · www1.grc.nasa.gov/beginners-guide-to-aeronautics/nozzle-design/ · record
6. [6]
   J. Marlin Smith. Preliminary results in the NASA Lewis H2-O2 combustion MHD experiment (1979)

   NASA Technical Memorandum 79135 (E-9983); prepared for the 18th Symposium on the Engineering Aspects of Magnetohydrodynamics, Butte, Montana, June 18–20, 1979 · ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19790014726 · record
7. [7]
   A. Betz. Das Maximum der theoretisch möglichen Ausnützung des Windes durch Windmotoren (1920)

   Zeitschrift für das gesamte Turbinenwesen 26, 307–309 · paper, no DOI · record
8. [8]
   S. L. Dixon, C. A. Hall. Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Turbomachinery (7th ed.) (2014)

   Butterworth-Heinemann · doi:10.1016/C2011-0-05059-7 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record