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Nuclear fission is a reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei. The fission process often produces gamma photons, and releases a very large amount of energy even by the energetic standards of radioactive decay.
The fission process often produces gamma rays and releases a very large amount of energy, even by the energetic standards of radioactive decay. Scientists already knew about alpha decay and beta decay , but fission assumed great importance because the discovery that a nuclear chain reaction was possible led to the development of nuclear power ...
The sum of the atomic mass of the two atoms produced by the fission of one fissile atom is always less than the atomic mass of the original atom. This is because some of the mass is lost as free neutrons, and once kinetic energy of the fission products has been removed (i.e., the products have been cooled to extract the heat provided by the reaction), then the mass associated with this energy ...
It behaves like 235 U and its fission releases a similar amount of energy. The higher the burnup , the more plutonium is present in the spent fuel, but the available fissile plutonium is lower. Typically about one percent of the used fuel discharged from a reactor is plutonium, and some two thirds of this is fissile (c. 50% 239 Pu , 15% 241 Pu ).
A fission nuclear power plant is generally composed of: a nuclear reactor, in which the nuclear reactions generating heat take place; a cooling system, which removes the heat from inside the reactor; a steam turbine, which transforms the heat into mechanical energy; an electric generator, which transforms the mechanical energy into electrical ...
Plutonium-239 can also absorb neutrons and fission along with the uranium-235 in a reactor. Of all the common nuclear fuels, 239 Pu has the smallest critical mass . A spherical untamped critical mass is about 11 kg (24.2 lbs), [ 2 ] 10.2 cm (4") in diameter.
The amount of energy released by fission bombs can range from the equivalent of just under a ton to upwards of 500,000 tons (500 kilotons) of TNT (4.2 to 2.1 × 10 6 GJ). [ 11 ] All fission reactions generate fission products , the remains of the split atomic nuclei.
Nuclear binding energy, the energy required to split a nucleus of an atom. Nuclear potential energy, the potential energy of the particles inside an atomic nucleus. Nuclear reaction, a process in which nuclei or nuclear particles interact, resulting in products different from the initial ones; see also nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.