Fission energy
What is Fission energy?”Fission is a nuclear process in which a heavy nucleus splits into two smaller nuclei.” This is the definition given for the energy generation process called fission energy. Fission energy is produced when the electrostatic forces inside the atom are overcome. An atom of larger size has more electrostatic repulsion between the protons than an atom which is smaller in size so once the stronger bonds are broken, fission occurs. Fission energy is created by the process in which a free proton is accelerated then smashed into an atom, which splits the atom into two. This splitting releases huge amounts of energy which can be further harnessed for a lot of uses. In a fission reaction process the number of protons equals to that of the neutron in the product equal to that of the original. Fission reaction is a natural reaction for the earth, the universe everyday has fission reaction. Infact the earth’s natural uranium fission reactor was in West Africa.
Why is Fission better than burning fossil fuels?
Fossil fuels are the natural sources for creating energy. Fossil fuels are not very efficient to create thermal energy as the energy released in the reaction is low as regards the consumption of the raw material. Fission on the other hand is a reaction which does not require too much raw material, but the energy produced is in massive amounts. The energy produced in fission reaction is a million times more than a normal chemical energy.
The reason for fission reaction to be unpopular is because of the immense amount f radiation created while doing a fission reaction. Today the major area of research is to create an environment where this radiation energy is reduced and the process is purified, and the pollution is significantly reduced. An immense amount of power is needed to accelerate the proton for the start of the process.
