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Nuclear Control RodA nuclear control rod is inserted into the graphite blocks of a nuclear reactor in order to increase or decrease the number of neutrons which will split further uranium atoms. This in turn affects the heat of the reactor, the amount of steam generated, and hence the electricity produced. Originally the control rods hung above the reactor, suspended by a rope. In an emergency a person assigned to the job would take a fire axe and cut the rope, allowing the rods in fall into the reactor and stop the fission. At some point the title of the person assigned this duty was given as SCRAM, or Safety Control Rod Ax Man. This term continues in use today as the phrase "scram" to describe a shutting down of a reactor by dropping the control rods. Modern reactor designs use an electromagnetic system to raise and lower the rods, therefore the reactor will scram due to gravity in the case of a power failure, preventing overheating.
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