Here’s how a nuclear bomb actually works. The B61 and the B83 nuclear bombs currently in the United States’ arsenal are thermonuclear, or hydrogen bombs, and quite different than the fission weapons ...

In a nuclear power plant, the heat to make steam is produced through nuclear fission, when an atom is split into two and releases energy. The atoms being split in today's nuclear plants are those ...

And unlike nuclear fission, fusion doesn't create long-lived radioactive waste, according to the Department of Energy. A view of Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant, in Leningrad, Russia on September 14 ...

In fact, once the conditions for fission have all been met, it's difficult to stop a nuclear reaction. And not stopping a nuclear reaction within a closed pressure vessel leads to higher and ...

Nuclear fission involves splitting apart huge unstable atoms — usually of radioactive uranium 235 — by hitting them with neutrons. As the atoms split, they give off energy and, importantly ...

Fission is the process of splitting an atom, which then releases energy in the form of heat. The fissionable material used in nuclear reactors is uranium, which is found naturally all over the world.

So how do nuclear reactors work, and can the atom become "our friend" again? SUBSCRIBE. LOG IN. ... All nuclear energy today is based on the principle of nuclear fission, which is simply when a ...

Nuclear meltdowns occur when the fuel rods overheat, leaving a molten mass of fuel and fission products at the bottom of the reactor vessel — the casing that contains the fuel rods and coolant.

The government has announced the biggest nuclear programme in a generation, which includes £14.2bn to build the Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk. It has also confirmed that Rolls Royce ...

Several of Japan's nuclear power plants, especially the Fukushima Naiishi plant in northeastern Japan, are experiencing serious problems in the wake of Friday's earthquake and tsunami. If you've ...

Conceptual diagram of a nuclear fission chain reaction. ANU, Author provided What are the pros and cons of going nuclear? One huge advantage of nuclear-powered submarines is they do not require ...

Nuclear power plants use fission, not fusion. Fission releases energy when a large uranium nucleus splits into two radioactive fragments, which carry the energy as they fly apart.