Nuclear fission
The splitting of a large nucleus to produce two smaller ones. Two or three neutrons are also released in the process. The energy from the neutrons powers a nuclear reactor. is the splitting of a large atomic nucleus into smaller nuclei.
In a A piece of equipment in which nuclear fission or fusion takes place., a Uncharged subatomic particle, with a mass of 1 relative to a proton. The relative charge of a neutron is 0. is absorbed into a nucleus (typically uranium-235). This causes the nucleus to become uranium-236, which is violently unstable.
The entire nucleus splits into two large fragments called 'The nuclei (centres of atoms) that are produced by a nuclear reaction. In nuclear fission the parent nucleus splits into two smaller daughter nuclei and releases energy.'. In addition to the 'daughter' products, two or three neutrons also explode out of the fission reaction and these can collide with other uranium nuclei to cause further fission reactions. This is known as a A nuclear chain reaction occurs when a neutron splits a nucleus, releasing more neutrons, which in turn go on to split even more nuclei..
Energy is released from the nucleus in the form of kinetic energy of the particles and also by gamma radiation. Most of this energy is used to heat water to turn the turbines that turn the generators.
The release of energy from the nuclear energy store (uranium) is similar to how energy is released from a chemical store (eg explosives) in an explosion, but it is considerably larger.