nuclear reactor

[noo-klee-er ree-ak-ter, nyoo-] / ˈnu kli ər riˈæk tər, ˈnyu- /

NOUN

atomic reactor

Synonyms

STRONGEST

reactor

WEAK

atomic furnace atomic pile atomic power plant atomic reactor breeder reactor chain reactor core reactor fast breeder reactor neutron factory nuclear furnace nuclear power plant pile plutonium reactor reactor pile thermonuclear reactor uranium reactor

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A gigawatt is roughly equivalent to the power generated by a nuclear reactor.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 27, 2026

“This is a grid-scale nuclear reactor that will be built in 42 months.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

Not everyone is fully on board, however — including Isaacman, whose ambitious plans involve developing a lunar nuclear reactor by 2030.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026

Holtec also has a design for its own small nuclear reactor, and is attempting to get approval to place two of the small reactors at the Palisades site.

From Barron's • Feb. 9, 2026

But the possibility of a nuclear reactor losing every source of power at once had never seemed real, so no one had thought through solutions ahead of time.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland