⁵The mechanism by which this occurs varies with the reactor design, and is too detailed to warrant a full explanation here. In pressurized light-water reactors – the dominant design in the United States of America – this action occurs due to the water’s ability to moderate (slow down) the velocity of neutrons. Slow neutrons have a greater probability of being “captured” by fissile nuclei than fast neutrons, and so the water’s moderating ability will have a direct effect on the reactor core’s multiplication factor. As a light-water reactor core increases temperature, the water becomes less dense and therefore less effective at moderating (slowing down) fast neutrons emitted by “splitting” nuclei. These fast(er) neutrons then “miss” the nuclei of atoms they would have otherwise split, effectively reducing the reactor’s multiplication factor without any need for regulatory control rod motion. The reactor’s power level therefore self-stabilizes as it warms, rather than “running away” to dangerously high levels, and may thus be classified as a self-regulating process.