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.

The strikes included attacks very close to Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactor.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026

NextEra and Google in October announced a deal to restart a NextEra nuclear reactor in Iowa.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2026

Two other recent debuts—HVAC company Madison Air, the year’s biggest IPO so far, and nuclear reactor firm X-Energy —have both performed solidly for example.

From Barron's • May 7, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 27, 2026

This involved bombarding samples with neutrons in a small nuclear reactor and carefully counting the gamma rays that were emitted; it was extremely finicky work.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson