ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the process of nuclear fission and the nuclear reactions that are associated with it. It explores how a nuclear chain reaction can be used to release tremendous amounts of energy, and in the process, what must be done to control such reactions to keep them in check. The chapter discusses the process of nuclear fusion on a superficial level, even though it generates billions of times more energy each day than fission does in the universe as a whole. Each fission reaction produces several fission fragments, and so in 100 nuclear fissions, 200 fission fragments are produced. The fission product yield is usually normalized per fission so that the sum of all the fission products produced equals 100%. In nuclear science and engineering the unit of 1 MeV is commonly used to compare the relative energy output from Fission and Fusion processes.
