Nuclear

Nuclear refers to a reaction caused by the power of an atom. The main uses of nuclear technology is in nuclear reactors, which use the energy in an atom to create power, or nuclear weapons, which use the energy in warfare. There are two types of reactions, nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.

Theory

The science behind a nuclear fission device is Einstein's equation ². Spelled out, mass multiplied by the speed of light squared. This equation is the formula for the energy contained in an atom. This energy is released in a nuclear weapon when a speeding neutron collides with the atom, blasting it apart, and releasing the energy contained. In a nuclear weapon, the atom blasted apart then releases two other neutrons which collide with two other atoms. This keeps occuring until there are no atoms left to destroy. This is known as a nuclear chain reaction. In a nuclear fission power plant, however, the nuclear core is designed so that a chain reaction cannot occur, because there are not enough atoms for it.

Nuclear fusion, on the other hand, is based on putting atoms together, as opposed to breaking them appart in fission.

Weapon

Nuclear "mushroom cloud" at Hiroshima, Japan

A nuclear weapon is a weapon designed with a nuclear warhead. Nuclear weapons not only produce mass devastation in the blast radius, but also create a nuclear fallout for many years to come. Recently, there has been much fear of a terrorist state or organization getting hold of either a Soviet weapon or creating one of their own.

Nuclear fission based weapons occur by the nuclear chain reaction system, while thermonuclear weapons create nuclear fusion in their reaction.

Power

Nuclear power plant

Nuclear fission has existed for power over fifty years, starting in the Soviet Union. It currently supplies electricity to many of the nations of the world. The nuclear industry was booming in the 1960's and 1970's, but after fiascos such as Three Mile Island and Chernobyl nuclear construction has died down.

Nuclear fusion, due to its less dangerous nature, has been sought vigorously, but the end result in every try has been less energy resulting in the reaction than was gotten out of it. The intense heat that is necessary for such a reaction to occur is the reason for this. Nevertheless, countries still invest liberally in nuclear fusion energy programs in the hope that someday they may become viable.

Culture

Nuclear weapons are often colloquially called "nukes."

A nuclear fusion reactor was a central part of the 2004 film Spiderman 2.