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Hybrid nuclear fusion–fission (hybrid nuclear power) is a proposed means of generating power by use of a combination of nuclear fusion and fission processes. The basic idea is to use high-energy fast neutrons from a fusion reactor to trigger fission in non- fissile fuels like U-238 or Th-232. Each neutron can trigger several fission events ...
v. t. e. Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei, usually deuterium and tritium (hydrogen isotopes), combine to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles (neutrons or protons). The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifested as either the release or absorption of energy.
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. Nuclear fission was discovered by chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann and physicists Lise ...
A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lower mass, or a combination of these benefits. Characteristics of nuclear fusion reactions make possible ...
The first successful man-made fusion device was the boosted fission weapon tested in 1951 in the Greenhouse Item test. The first true fusion weapon was 1952's Ivy Mike, and the first practical example was 1954's Castle Bravo. In these devices, the energy released by a fission explosion compresses and heats the fuel, starting a fusion reaction.
Nuclear fission provides the energy source for thermonuclear warheads, while sources such as lasers and particle beams are used in non-fission devices. [16] The target is a small spherical pellet containing a few milligrams of fusion fuel, typically a mix of deuterium (D) and tritium (T), as this composition has the lowest ignition temperature ...
In astrophysics, silicon burning is a very brief [1] sequence of nuclear fusion reactions that occur in massive stars with a minimum of about 8–11 solar masses. Silicon burning is the final stage of fusion for massive stars that have run out of the fuels that power them for their long lives in the main sequence on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.
The Soviet RDS-6S test, code named "Joe 4", demonstrated a fission/fusion/fission ("Layercake") design for a nuclear weapon. Linear pinch devices in the US and USSR report detections of neutrons, an indication of fusion reactions. Both are later explained as coming from instabilities in the fuel, and are non-fusion in nature. 1954