Radioisotopes for which spontaneous fission is not negligible can be used as neutron sources.
Spontaneous fissions release neutrons as all fissions do, contributing to neutron flux in a subcritical reactor. Similarly, as for alpha decay, spontaneous fission occurs due to quantum tunneling. For example, 232Th, 235U, and 238U are primordial nuclides and have left evidence of undergoing spontaneous fission in their minerals.įor heavy transuranic elements, the spontaneous fission transition rate increases with the mass number, and it may become the dominant decay mode at mass numbers greater than 260. Spontaneous fission is feasible over practical observation times only for mass numbers greater than 232.
Although spontaneous fission is expected to become more probable as the mass number increases, it is still a rare process, even in uranium. Spontaneous fission is also possible if we study the nuclear binding curve, and this decay is energetically possible for a nucleus having A > 100. The case decay process is called spontaneous fission, a very rare process. Nuclear fission is either a nuclear reaction or a radioactive decay process in nuclear physics.
#Fission fission meaning free#
The fission process often produces free neutrons and photons (in the form of gamma rays) and releases a large amount of energy. In general, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts (lighter nuclei). Spontaneous fission is a decay process in which an unstable nucleus spontaneously splits into smaller parts (lighter nuclei).
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