25K views · 699 reactions | What’s that blue glow surrounding a reactor? It’s a phenomenon known as Cherenkov Radiation when electrically charged particles, such as protons or electrons, travel faster than light in a clear medium like water. | U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy | Facebook

The blue glow is called Cherenkov radiation, and it's caused by very high energy electrically charged particles, such as electrons, traveling faster than the speed of light in a medium, such as water. Think of it like a sonic boom for light. In certain mediums, the speed of light is slower, and particles can travel faster than light in that medium. For example, the speed of light in water is 225,000,000 metres per second, compared to 299,792,458 metres per second in a vacuum, or about 75% the sp

Nuclear Reactor and Cherenkov Radiation/Effect. In Nuclear Fission Power Plants, civil electricity/energy is produced by the reactor ( usually, there is more than one per plant). A nuclear fission reactor is a type of nuclear reactor capable of managing a chain fission reaction in a controlled manner, starting from fissile material , in order to produce electricity from the heat released during fission. So ... This is what happens in nuclear power plants. In the reactor , the chain reaction is f