Nuclear Physics and Energy

The process nuclear fusion may release or absorb energy. When the resulting nucleus is lighter than that of iron, energy is normally released; when the resulting nucleus is heavier than that of iron, energy is generally absorbed.

Cold fusion is a hypothetical type of nuclear reaction that would occur at, or near, room temperature, compared with temperatures in the millions of degrees that is required for "hot" fusion. Cold fusion gained attention after reports in 1989 by Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann, then one of the world's leading electrochemists.

The Dhruva reactor is India's largest nuclear research reactor. Located in the Mumbai (Bombay) suburb of Trombay at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), it is India's primary generator of weapons-grade plutonium-bearing spent fuel for its nuclear weapons program. Originally named the R-5, this pool-type reactor first went critical on 8 August 1985 after 10 years of construction.

Uranium is used in fission process. It causes serious health problems. It causes environmental pollution.

Hydrogen bomb is based on nuclear fusion reaction and nuclear bomb is based on nuclear fission reaction.

Presently the nuclear fission of elements in the actinide series of the periodic table produces the vast majority of nuclear energy in the direct service of humankind. More than 60 years after the first attempts, commercial fusion power production remains unlikely before 2050. United States of America has the highest number of functional nuclear reactors in the world, with the number currently standing at 104.

According to last estimates released by IAEA in 2011, around 10% of world’s electricity generation comes from nuclear power plants. Annual generation of nuclear power has been on a slight downward trend since 2007, decreasing 1.8% in 2009 to 2558 TWh with nuclear power meeting 13–14% of the world's electricity demand. One factor in the nuclear power percentage decrease since 2007 has been the prolonged shutdown of large reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Japan following the Niigata-Chuetsu-Oki earthquake.

In nuclear physics, nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei collide at a very high speed and join to form a new type of atomic nucleus. For example, the energy that the sun emits into space is produced by nuclear reactions that happen in its core due to the collision of hydrogen nuclei and the formation of helium nucleus.

One isotope of Uranium, namely Uranium-235, is naturally occurring and sufficiently unstable, but it is always found mixed with the more stable isotope Uranium-238. The latter accounts for more than 99% of the weight of natural Uranium. Alternatively, the element Plutonium possesses an isotope that is sufficiently unstable for this process to be usable. Plutonium does not occur naturally, so it must be manufactured in a nuclear reactor.

Nuclear power is the use of exothermic nuclear processes to generate useful heat and electricity. The term includes the following heat producing processes: nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion.

A smoke detector is a device that detects smoke, typically as an indicator of fire. In this device, one of the civilian applications of nuclear chemistry is seen. An ice breaker is a special purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice covered waters. Several technological advances were introduced into icebreaking technology over the years, but it was not until the introduction of nuclear power in the Soviet icebreaker Lenin in 1959 that icebreakers developed to their full potential.

The process of nuclear fusion may release or absorb energy. When the resulting nucleus is lighter than iron, energy is normally released. When the nucleus is heavier than that of iron, energy is generally absorbed.

Nuclear fission is the process of splitting a nucleus into roughly equal parts, and releasing energy and neutrons in the process. If these neutrons are captured by another unstable nucleus, they can do fission as well leading to a chain reaction. The average number of neutrons released per nucleus that go on to fission another nucleus is referred to as k. Values of k larger than 1 mean that the fission reaction is releasing more neutrons than it absorbs. Therefore, it is referred to as a self-sustaining chain reaction.

Cold fusion is a hypothetical type of nuclear reaction that would occur at or near room temperature compared with temperatures (in the millions of degrees), which is required for hot fusion. Cold fusion gained attention after reports in 1989 by Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann, then one of the world's leading electrochemists.

Magnetic confinement uses magnetic and electric fields to heat and squeeze the hydrogen plasma. Microwaves, electricity and neutral particle beams from accelerators heat a stream of hydrogen gas. This heating turns the gas into plasma. This plasma gets squeezed by super-conducting magnets, thereby allowing fusion to occur. The most efficient shape for the magnetically confined plasma is a donut shape (toroid). A reactor of this shape is called a tokamak. ITER project in France is using this method.