This process occurs naturally in the centre of stars like the Sun and creates no long-term radioactive waste or greenhouse gases.įusion power plants operate in a similar manner to fission plants, using the heat generated by the atomic reaction to heat water, produce steam, drive turbines and generate electricity, but it has been a challenge to create the required conditions in a fusion reactor without consuming more energy than is produced. Nuclear fusion is the process of combining atomic nuclei rather than splitting them (as with fission) to produce energy. For example, uranium-235 atoms split into nuclei of krypton and barium along with three extra neutrons that create fission chain reactions by hitting other uranium-235 atoms. Neutrons are then fired at the uranium atoms, causing them to split and release more neutrons that hit other atoms, creating a chain reaction that splits more atoms, releasing energy as heat and radiation. The process of splitting an atom at a power plant involves placing uranium in sealed metal cylinders inside a steel reactor vessel.
As the process uses uranium rather than fossil fuels to generate the heat, there are no carbon emissions with the nuclear fission process. This energy is released as heat and radiation, with the heat being used by a nuclear power plant to boil water into steam to turn a turbine and drive generators to produce electricity. Nuclear fission involves the splitting of atoms to release the binding energy of the atomic nuclei. National Structural Integrity Research Centre.Structural Integrity Research Foundation.
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