Any fission reactor basically works the same ... If you balance it right, the atoms breaking apart will cause a chain reaction that sustains itself. That is, neutrons hit atoms, releasing more ...

They had also developed a nuclear reactor design that almost, but not quite, achieved a controlled and sustained nuclear fission chain reaction. During the last months of the war, a small group of ...

July 16, 1945, marked a turning point in history with the first nuclear test, named Trinity, in the New Mexico desert in the ...

Science can’t be rushed, but fusion’s true believers think capturing the sun in a bottle could light humanity’s future.

Nuclear energy's role in reducing carbon emissions and high efficiency makes it a significant player in the clean energy ...

During fission, a fast-moving neutron splits an ... and so on: a self-sustaining chain reaction. If this chain reaction went too fast, it became an atomic explosion, but under control it could ...

China plans to start construction of the world’s first fusion-fission power plant, with the aim of generating 100 megawatts ...

Each fission reaction releases a huge amount of energy (about 200 MeV) but requires a chain reaction for the reactor to remain self-sustaining. By comparison, a fusion reactor generates an ...

leading to an exponential chain reaction. Energy Release: Each U-235 fission releases ~200 MeV (3.2 × 10⁻¹¹ J). In a supercritical state, the reaction rate skyrockets. For a prompt supercritical event ...