The term power plant refers to any installation at which electrical energy is generated. Power plants can operate using any one of a number of fuels: oil, coal, nuclear material, or geothermal steam, for example. The general principle on which most power plants operate, however, is the same. In such a plant, a fuel such as coal or oil is burned. Heat from the burning fuel is used to boil water, converting it to steam. The hot steam is then used to operate a steam turbine.

A steam turbine is a very large machine whose core is a horizontal shaft of metal. Attached to the horizontal shaft are many fan-shaped blades. As hot steam is directed at the turbine, it strikes the blades and causes the horizontal shaft to rotate on its axis. The rotating shaft is, in turn, attached to the shaft of an electric...