Content

▪ History
▪ Structure of atom
▪ Nuclear fission
▪ Energy by nuclear fission
▪ Nuclear power plant
▪ Uses of fission
▪ Nuclear fusion
▪ Energy by nuclear fusion
▪ Atomic bomb v/s hydrogen
bomb
▪ Uses of fusion
 history
It began in 1789 when a German chemist named Martin Klaproth
discovered uranium but it was not until 1934 that nuclear fission was
first achieved following a series of experiments by Enrico Fermi, an
Italian physicist. Most early atomic research was focused on
developing weapons for the second
world war, under the code name
Manhattan Project. On 6 August,
1945 an American B-29 bomber
dropped the world’s first deployed
atomic bomb over the Japanese
city of Hiroshima. The bomb
immediately killed about 80,000
people and tens of thousands
would later die of radiation
exposure. The Atomic Energy Commission was created in 1946 and
approved the construction of an experimental breeder reactor I in
Idaho. The reactor generated the first electricity from nuclear energy
on 20 December, 1951.
STRUCTURE OF ATOM
 NUCLEAR FISSION
Nuclear fission is a reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits
into two or more smaller nuclei. The fission process often
produces gamma photons, and releases a very large amount
of energy even by the energetic standards of radioactive decay. Fission
is a form of nuclear transmutation because the resulting fragments (or
daughter atoms) are not the same element as the original parent atom.
The two (or more) nuclei produced are most often of comparable but
slightly different sizes, typically with a mass ratio of products of about
3 to 2, common fissile isotopes. Most fissions are binary fissions
(producing two charged fragments), but occasionally (2 to 4 times per
1000 events), three positively charged fragments are produced, in
a ternary fission. The smallest of these fragments in ternary processes
ranges in size from a proton to an argon nucleus. Apart from fission
induced by a neutron, harnessed and exploited by humans, a natural
form of spontaneous radioactive decay (not requiring a neutron) is
also referred to as fission, and occurs especially in very high-mass-
number isotopes. Spontaneous fission was discovered in 1940
by Flyorov, Petrzhak, and Kurchatov in Moscow, in an experiment
 intended to confirm
that, without
bombardment by
neutrons, the fission
rate of uranium was
negligible, as
predicted by Niels
Bohr; it was not
negligible. The
amount of free
energy contained in nuclear fuel is millions of times the amount of free
energy contained in a similar mass of chemical fuel such as gasoline,
making nuclear fission a very dense source of energy. The products of
nuclear fission, however, are on average far more radioactive than the
heavy elements which are normally fissioned as fuel, and remain so for
significant amounts of time, giving rise to a nuclear waste problem.
However, the seven long-lived fission products make up only a small
fraction of fission products. Concerns over nuclear waste
accumulation and the destructive potential of nuclear weapons are a
counterbalance to the peaceful desire to use fission as an energy
source. The thorium fuel cycle produces virtually no plutonium and
much less minor actinides, but 232 U- or rather its decay products -
are a major gamma ray emitter.
 CHAIN REACTION
A chain reaction refers
to a process in which
neutrons released in
fission produce an
additional fission in at
least one further
nucleus. This nucleus in
turn produces neutrons,
and the process
repeats. The process
may be controlled
(nuclear power) or uncontrolled (nuclear weapons). If each neutron
releases two more neutrons, then the number of fissions doubles each
generation. In that case, in 10 generations there are 1,024 fissions and
in 80 generations about 6 x 10 23 (a mole) fissions. Nuclear chain
reactions require careful engineering and as far as we know, a natural
nuclear chain reaction has only occurred once. Nuclear chain
reactions require an abundance of careful planning. When they do
occur, there is substantially more energy available, leading to nuclear
having a much higher energy density for its fuel. In order to sustain a
nuclear chain reaction, every fission event must lead to exactly one
more fission event.
 ENERGY BY FISSION
Typical fission events release about two hundred million eV (200 MeV)
of energy, the equivalent of roughly >2 trillion kelvin, for each fission
event. The exact isotope which is fissioned, and whether or not it is
fissionable or fissile, has only a small impact on the amount of energy
released. This can be easily seen by examining the curve of binding
energy (image below), and noting that the average binding energy of
the actinide nuclides beginning with uranium is around 7.6 MeV per
nucleon. Looking
further left on the
curve of binding
energy, where
the fission
products cluster, it is
easily observed that
the binding energy of
the fission products
tends to center
around 8.5 MeV per
nucleon.
 NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

A nuclear power plant is a thermal power stations in which

the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power
stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam
turbine connected to a generator that produces electricity. As of 2022,
the International Atomic Energy Agency reported there were
439 nuclear power reactors in operation in 32 countries around the
world.
 USES OF FISSION
Nuclear energy can be used to create electricity, but it must first be
released from the atom. In the process of nuclear atoms are split to
release that energy. The heat created by nuclear fission warms the
reactor’s cooling agent. A cooling agent is usually water, but some

nuclear reactors use liquid metal or molten salt. The cooling agent,
heated by nuclear fission, produces steam. The steam turns turbines,
or wheels turned by a flowing current. The turbines drives generators,
or engines that create electricity.
 NUCLEAR FUSION
Nuclear Fusion reactions power the Sun and other stars. In a fusion
reaction, two light nuclei merge to form a single heavier nucleus. The
process releases energy because the total mass of the resulting single
nucleus is less than the mass of the two original nuclei. The leftover
mass becomes energy. Einstein’s equation (E=mc2), which says in part
that mass and energy can be converted into each other, explains why
this process occurs. If scientists develop a way to harness energy from
fusion in machines on Earth, it could be an important method of energy
production.

Fusion can involve many different elements in the periodic table.

However, researchers working on fusion energy applications are
especially interested in the deuterium-tritium (DT) fusion reaction. DT
fusion produces a neutron and a helium nucleus.
 ENERGY BY FUSION
Fusing atoms together in a controlled way releases nearly four million
times more energy than a chemical reaction such as the burning of
coal, oil or gas and four times as much as nuclear fission reactions (at

equal mass). Fusion has the potential to provide the kind of baseload
energy needed to provide electricity to our cities and our industries.
One Kilogram of fusion fuel could provide the same amount of energy
as 10 million kilograms of fossil fuel. Fusion power is a proposed form
of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from
nuclear fusion reactions.
 USES OF FUSION
• Fusion fuels are widely available and nearly inexhaustible.
Deuterium can be distilled from all forms of water, while tritium
will be produced during the fusion reaction as fusion neutrons
interact with Lithium.
• Fusion doesn’t emit harmful toxins like carbon dioxide or other
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
• Nuclear fusion reactors produce no high activity, long-lived
nuclear waste.
• The activation of components in a fusion reactor is low enough for
the materials to be recycled or reused within 100 years.
• Fusion doesn’t employ fissile materials like Uranium and
Plutonium.
• There are no enriched materials in a fusion reactor like ITER that
could be exploited to make nuclear weapons.
• A Fukushima-type nuclear accident is not possible in a tokamak
fusion device.
 A-BOMB V/S H-BOMB

An atomic bomb or A-bomb is a nuclear weapon that explodes due to

the extreme energy released by a nuclear fission. For this reason, this
type of bomb is also known as a fission bomb. The word “atomic” isn’t
strictly accurate since it’s just the nucleus of the atom that is involved
in fission (its protons and neutrons), rather than the entire atom or its
electrons.
A hydrogen bomb or H-bomb is a type of nuclear weapon that explodes
from the intense energy released by nuclear fusion. Hydrogen bombs
may also be called thermonuclear weapons. The energy results from
the fusion of isotopes of hydrogen-deuterium and tritium. A hydrogen
bomb relies on the energy released from a fission reaction to heat and
compress the hydrogen to trigger fusion, which can also generate
additional fission reactions.
 Bibliography
• www.wikipedia.com
• www.google.com
• Physics NCERT class XII
• www.yahoo.com