Since the first nuclear explosion in history during the Trinity test in 1945, nuclear weapons have significantly shaped the ...

In a conventional reactor these neutrons are supplied by the fission reaction itself, which requires a certain concentration of the correct fissile isotopes (typically 235 U or 239 Pu) to be ...

Natural uranium has the same elemental composition as when it was mined (0.7% U-235, over 99.2% U-238), enriched uranium has had the proportion of the fissile isotope (U-235) increased by a ...

All LWRs require fuel that is enriched in the fissile isotope, U-235. Heavy Water Reactors (HWRs) use “enriched” water, the molecules of which comprise hydrogen atoms that are made up to more than 99 ...

So how did it work? Nuclear fission occurs when a neutron strikes an fissile isotope, breaking it apart and releasing more neutrons, propelled by the energy of the atomic split. The neutrons then ...