Nuclear fission - also known as atomic fission - is a process in nuclear physics in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei as fission products, and usually some by-product particles. Hence, fission is a form of elemental transmutation. The by-products include free neutrons, photons usually in the form gamma rays, and other nuclear fragments such as beta particles and alpha particles. Fission of heavy elements is an exothermic reaction and can release substantial amounts of useful energy both as gamma rays and as kinetic energy of the fragments (heating the bulk material where fission takes place).

Nuclear fission is used to produce energy for nuclear power and to drive explosion of nuclear weapons. Fission is useful as a power source because some materials, called nuclear fuels, both generate neutrons as part of the fission process and also undergo triggered fission when impacted by a free neutron. Nuclear fuels can be part of a self-sustaining chain reaction that releases energy at a controlled rate in a nuclear reactor or at a very rapid uncontrolled rate in a nuclear weapon.

The amount of free energy contained in nuclear fuel is millions of times the amount of free energy contained in a similar mass of chemical fuel such as gasoline, making nuclear fission a very tempting source of energy; however, the waste products of nuclear fission are highly radioactive and remain so for millennia, giving rise to a nuclear waste problem. Concerns over nuclear waste accumulation and over the immense destructive potential of nuclear weapons counterbalance the desirable qualities of fission as an energy source, and give rise to intense ongoing political debate over nuclear power.

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@Richard_Dawkins There remains a yawning gap between material evidence of archaeological record and theoretical models of psychologists.
republicofmath (Gary Davis) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:10:43 -0000
@Richard_Dawkins There remains a yawning gap between material evidence of archaeological record and theoretical models of psychologists.
is a little bit over theoretical perspectives without real world illustration.
portlandski (Jessie Amor Young) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:52:35 -0000
is a little bit over theoretical perspectives without real world illustration.
Need to do some studying on limiting reactants and theoretical yield before the test on tuesday.
SailorMewMew (Sarah Smith) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:39:06 -0000
Need to do some studying on limiting reactants and theoretical yield before the test on tuesday.
iTunes best selling movie #86: "Foolproof (2003)" Three people form a group that plans theoretical heists,... http://dealnay.com/128335
moviedb (Best selling movies) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:38:41 -0000
iTunes best selling movie #86: "Foolproof (2003)" Three people form a group that plans theoretical heists,... http://dealnay.com/128335

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