Nuclear fusion

Nuclear fission and fusion reactions are the two fundamental types of
nuclear reactions. Nuclear fusion is a reaction through which two or
more light nuclei collide to form a heavier nucleus. The nuclear fusion
process occurs in elements that have a low atomic number, such as
hydrogen. Nuclear Fusion is the opposite of nuclear fission reaction, in
which heavy elements diffuse and form lighter elements. Both nuclear
fusion and fission produce a massive amount of energy.

Table of Contents

 Nuclear Fusion Definition

 How does Nuclear Fusion take place?
 Nuclear Fusion in the Universe
 Difference Between Nuclear Fission and Nuclear Fusion
 Applications of Nuclear Fusion

Nuclear Fusion Definition

Nuclear fusion is when two or more atomic nuclei fuse to form a single
heavier nucleus. In the reaction, the matter is not conserved because
some of the mass of the fusing nuclei is converted to energy.
How does Nuclear Fusion take place?

Let us look at the nuclear fusion example below to understand how the
fusion reaction occurs.

When deuterium and tritium fuse together, their components are

recombined to form a helium atom and a fast neutron. As the two heavy
isotopes are recombined into a helium atom and a neutron, the leftover
extra mass is transformed into kinetic energy.

The participating nuclei should be brought together for the nuclear

fusion reaction to occur. They should be brought so close to each other
that the nuclear forces become active and glue to the nuclei together.

Nuclear Fusion in the Universe

Every star in the universe, including the sun, is alive due to nuclear
fusion. It is through this process that they produce an enormous amount
of heat and energy. The pressure at the core of any star is tremendously
high, and that is where the nuclear fusion reaction occurs.

For example, the temperature at the sun’s core is around 15 million

degrees Celsius. At this temperature, coupled with very high pressure,
two isotopes of Hydrogen, Deuterium, and Tritium, fuse to form Helium
and releases a massive amount of energy in the form of heat. Around
600 million tons of hydrogen are converted into Helium every second in
the sun. The reactions which take place in the sun provide an example of
nuclear fusion.
Difference Between Nuclear Fission and Nuclear Fusion

The table below lists the major differences between fusion and fission
reactions.

Nuclear Fission Nuclear Fusion

Nuclear fission is a nuclear Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction

reaction that splits a heavy that combines two or more small
atom into multiple smaller atoms to form a large atom.
ones.

It does not occur naturally. The universe is full of instances of

nuclear fusion reactions. Every star
uses it to produce energy.

It produces a large quantity of It produces greater energy than the

energy. fission reaction.

It does not require a lot of It requires a lot of heat and pressure

energy to split an atom into for the process to happen.
two.
Applications of Nuclear Fusion

We are still at an experimental stage as far as nuclear fusion reactions

are concerned.

 Clean: No combustion occurs in nuclear power (fission or fusion),

so there is no air pollution.
 Less nuclear waste: The fusion reactors will not produce high-
level nuclear wastes like their fission counterparts, so disposal will
be less of a problem. In addition, the wastes will not be of
weapons-grade nuclear materials as is the case in fission reactors.
If appropriately utilised, nuclear fusion energy is the answer to the
world’s power crisis problem. It is clean and produces a minimal amount
of nuclear waste as compared to fission reactions. In addition, the fuel
for fusion, Deuterium, and Tritium, are also readily available in nature.
Thus, scientists are hopeful that fusion will be a viable alternative power
source in the coming centuries.
Nuclear Fission

Before we understand what is nuclear fission reaction, let us learn what

is meant by nuclear reaction. The reaction that involves the change in the
identity or characteristics of an atomic nucleus, induced by bombarding
it with an energetic particle is known as a nuclear reaction. The
bombarding particle may either be an alpha particle, a gamma-ray
photon, a neutron, a proton, or a heavy ion. In any case, the bombarding
particle must have enough energy to approach the positively charged
nucleus to within range of the strong nuclear force. Let us learn about
nuclear energy and also know what is nuclear fission reaction in detail.

There are four main types of nuclear reactions as follows:

 Nuclear Fission
 Nuclear Fusion
 Nuclear Decay
 Transmutation
In the article, we will be discussing nuclear fission in detail.

Table of Contents

 What Is Nuclear Fission?

 What Is Nuclear Energy?
 Fission in Nuclear Power Plants
  Difference between Nuclear Fission and Nuclear Fusion

What Is Nuclear Fission?

When the nucleus of an atom splits into lighter nuclei through a nuclear
reaction the process is termed as nuclear fission. This decay can be
natural spontaneous splitting by radioactive decay, or can actually be
simulated in a lab by achieving necessary conditions (bombarding with
neutrinos). The resulting fragments tend to have a combined mass which
is less than the original. The missing mass is what is converted into
nuclear energy in the above reaction. Therefore, nuclear fission is
defined as:

The process in nuclear physics in which the nucleus of an atom splits

into two daughter nuclei.

 
When Uranium-235 atom is bombarded with a neutron, it splits into two
lighter nuclei Barium and Krypton.

Examples of Nuclear Fission

1. An example of nuclear fission is the splitting of Uranium-235. The

equation of the reaction has been given below:

92235U+01n→56144Ba+3689Kr+301n+210MeV

2. The other example of nuclear fission is the splitting of Uranium-

233. The equation of the reaction has been given below:

92233U+01n→54137Xe+3894Sr+301n

3. The splitting of Plutonium-239 is the other example of nuclear

fission given below:

94239Pu+01n→54137Xe+10340Zr+301n

What Is Nuclear Energy?

All matter is made of tiny atoms. All atoms have a nucleus at their core,
where most of their mass is concentrated. In specific circumstances, it is
possible for this nucleus to undergo certain changes. Nuclear fusion (as
the name suggests) is a process of combining small atoms, resulting in
heavier atoms with more energy. Nuclear fission is the splitting of the
nucleus of a heavier atom into a smaller one. Both these processes
release a tremendous amount of energy. And how does that happen?

Remember Einstein’s famous equation E = mc2 ?

where,

E is energy
m is mass
c is the speed of light in vacuum

Although the mass in consideration is really small, the speed of light is a

large number (299792458 m/s). When this potential was realised it led to
the field of harnessing nuclear energy (literally the energy in the
nucleus). Per the definition of nuclear energy, it is the energy released
during nuclear reactions like nuclear fission or nuclear fusion.

The good thing about nuclear energy is that it has the potential to
generate a lot of energy or power without any emissions of pollutants.
The only disadvantage is the disposal of nuclear waste has to be done
extremely carefully.
Fission in Nuclear Power Plants

We have discussed the basics of nuclear fission reactions, now let us

understand what real-world applications these reactions have. One of the
major applications of a fission reaction is the production of electricity
via nuclear power plants. Nuclear fission is an advantageous method for
producing power for several reasons.

We use nuclear reactors to generate electricity making use of the nuclear

fission reaction. The heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working
fluid, which in turn runs through steam turbines. These either drive a
ship’s propellers or turn electrical generators’ shafts.

The Chernobyl Accident

Nuclear power plants cannot be thoroughly discussed without

mentioning nuclear accidents. There is no telling which is more vivid or
sobering than that of Chernobyl. The Chernobyl power plant, located
about 80 km north of Kyiv, Ukraine in the former Soviet Union, was an
RBMK-1000 type reactor.

On April 26, 1986, the world’s worst nuclear accident happened at the
Chernobyl plant. An explosion and fire in the No. 4 reactor sent
radioactivity into the atmosphere. With the flow reduced, the cooling
water in the reactor began to boil and turn to steam.
Difference between Nuclear Fission and Nuclear Fusion

Following is the table explaining nuclear fission v/s nuclear fusion:

Parameter  Nuclear fission Nuclear fusion

Fusion is defined as
Fission is defined as the
the combining of two
Definition  splitting of a nucleus into
lighter nuclei into a
two daughter nuclei
heavier one

The amount of energy

Generation of The amount of energy
produced is relatively
energy produced is huge
huge

Hydrogen isotopes are

Uranium is the primary fuel
the primary fuel that
Fuel  that is used in the power
is used in the power
plants
plants