What is

Nuclear
Fusion?
o Fusion is the process that powers the sun
and the stars.
o It is the reaction in which two atoms of
hydrogen combine together, or fuse, to
form an atom of helium.
o In the process some of the mass of the
hydrogen is converted into energy. The
easiest fusion reaction to make happen is
combining deuterium (or “heavy
hydrogen) with tritium (or “heavy-heavy
hydrogen”) to make helium and a
neutron.
 What is
Nuclear
Fission?

o Nuclear fission is either a nuclear

reaction or a radioactive decay process
in which the nucleus of an atom splits
into smaller parts (lighter nuclei).
o The fission process often produces free
neutrons and gamma photons, and
releases a very large amount of energy
even by the energetic standards of
radioactive decay.
o Fission is a form of nuclear
transmutation because the resulting
fragments are not the same element as
the original atom.
 What are the
benefits of
Nuclear fusion to
daily civilians?

Barely Any Waste The only by

product of nuclear fusion is
helium, which is safe and non
toxic. This is one of the biggest
benefits of using nuclear fusion,
rather than nuclear fission.
Nuclear waste can be very
harmful to the environment and
to people, and nuclear fusion
doesn’t cause this.
All of the components needed
to create energy using nuclear
fusion can be found or made.
This means that you can supply
a truly unlimited and
sustainable energy supply
using no other energy sources
in the process. Deuterium is the
main ingredient needed, which
is distilled from sea water.

No Green House Gases The

only by product that is created
during the nuclear fusion
process is helium, which is not
a green house gas. This is
great for the environment and
our atmosphere because it
doesn’t contribute anything to
the global warming problem.
What are the
drawbacks to
daily civilians of
Nuclear fusion?

Energy Input VS Energy Output

Extremely high levels of heat are
necessary in order to fuse the two
nuclei of the atoms together. This
requires a large amount of
energy, nearly as much energy as
will be produced. For this reason,
nuclear fusion energy is truly not
plausible
Little Understood Nuclear fusion is a
very new form of energy, and the
only way it would be truly usable on
a large scale production is if cold
fusion was perfected, which is a
long ways off. The full scope of
dangers and effects of nuclear
fusion energy isn’t understood yet,
because it simply has not been
around long enough.

Expensive Construction Costs

The facilities, experts, and
scientists that are needed to
successfully run a nuclear
fusion plant are immensely
expensive. Along with these
high costs, it also costs quite a
pretty penny to harness the
energy that is created.
 What are the
benefits to of
Nuclear fission
daily civilians?

It helps minimize environmental pollution.

One of the biggest contributors to environmental
pollution is fossil fuels, which emit tons of carbon
dioxide and other harmful chemicals. These, in
turn, can damage the environment and even
harm the health of people. This isn’t the case with
nuclear fission. Nuclear plants produce large
amounts of nuclear fission energy while
consuming only a relatively small amount of fossil
fuel in their operation. This means they can
provide heat, electricity, and power to consumers
without producing lots of carbon dioxide
emissions.
It helps reduce global warming.
If the world would switch to nuclear
fission, there would be less greenhouse
gases (e.g. carbon dioxide and methane)
in the atmosphere. As a result, the
greenhouse effect would be felt less and
global warming would be stopped or at
least reduced. This, in turn, can protect
humans from the catastrophes that
global warming would bring.

It can keep up with energy

demands. As mentioned above,
nuclear plants can produce high
amounts of nuclear fission energy.
This can be a good thing in today’s
modern times, wherein the demand
for energy is steadily rising as more
and more people drive cars, build
houses, use electronic devices, and
do other energy-intensive activities.
What are the
drawbacks of
Nuclear fission to
daily civilians?

It can be dangerous for

employees. Radiation, which is
one of the by-products of nuclear
fission, can be harmful to people
if they’re exposed to it at large
amounts. Those who work in
nuclear plants are invariably
exposed to radiation every day,
which puts them at a higher risk
of developing illnesses.
It has high initial expenses. Nuclear
plants need specialized equipment and
machinery before they can become
fully functional and therefore require
millions of dollars to be built. The
plants also need to put safety measures
in place to protect their workers and
the surrounding areas, and these
measures can cost a significant amount
of money.

It can be dangerous for communities. Like

any kind of process, nuclear fission
creates waste by-products that have to be
disposed in one way or another. If they’re
improperly disposed, these materials
won’t only pollute the environment but
will also endanger the lives of the people
who live near the disposal sites. Nuclear
plants are also highly volatile; if an
accident occurs, they can explode and
affect the surrounding areas and
communities.
 Where can
nuclear fusion
be found in
nature?

Nuclear fusion of hydrogen to form

helium occurs naturally in the sun and
other stars. It takes place only at
extremely high temperatures. That’s
because a great deal of energy is needed
to overcome the force of repulsion
between the positively charged nuclei.
The sun’s energy comes from fusion in its
core
 Where can
artificial
nuclear fusion
be found?

Core of CROCUS, a small nuclear reactor used for research at

the EPFL in Switzerland
A nuclear reactor, formerly known as an atomic pile, is a
device used to initiate and control a self-sustained nuclear
chain reaction. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power
plants for electricity generation and in propulsion of ships.
Heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid (water
or gas), which in turn runs through steam turbines. These
either drive a ship's propellers or turn electrical generators'
shafts. Nuclear generated steam in principle can be used for
industrial process heat or for district heating. Some reactors
are used to produce isotopes for medical and industrial use,
or for production of weapons-grade plutonium. Some are
run only for research. As of April 2014, the IAEA reports there
are 435 nuclear power reactors in operation, in 31 countries
around the world. By 2017, this increased to 447 operable
reactors according to the World Nuclear Association
 Where can
nuclear fission
be found
nature?

A natural nuclear fission reactor is

a uranium deposit where self-sustaining nuclear
chain reactions have occurred. This can be
examined by analysis of isotope ratios. The
existence of this phenomenon was discovered in
1972 at Oklo in Gabon by French physicist Francis
Perrin. The conditions under which a
natural nuclear reactor could exist had been
predicted in 1956 by Paul Kazuo Kuroda. The
conditions found were very similar to what was
predicted.
Oklo is the only known location for this in the
world and consists of 16 sites at which self-
sustaining nuclear fission reactions are thought to
have taken place approximately 1.7 billion years
ago, and ran for a few hundred thousand years,
averaging probably less than 100 kW of thermal
power during that time.
 Where can
artificial
nuclear fission
be found?

They can be found artificially in nuclear

power plants as fuel for the generation of
electricity, the can also be found in islands
where there are no inhabitants other than
scientists who study, underground where
nuclear experiment by the hundreds takes
place and also in some hospitals where
radio-therapy is available to cancer
patients
Disadvantages of
Nuclear Fission in
different fields of
science:

Tragic events such as Chernobyl and Fukushima

show us just how dangerous the process of
nuclear fission can be. In July 2017, underwater
robots found melted nuclear fuel, up to 3 feet
thick, underneath the core inside the primary
containment vessel at their Unit 3 reactor. This
creates a radiation-exposure event that can be
dangerous to human and animal health.Chemist
who handle the radioactive isotopes get cancer,
radiation poisoning and mutations, if ever they
are exposed to too much radiation even in suits
meant for repelling radiation. Physicist are
spending too much of tax money on just the
creation of the isotopes but are spending near
billions monthly in order to continue the research
for projects on nuclear fission
 Advantages of
Nuclear Fission
in different fields
of science

The generation of electricity through nuclear energy

reduces the amount of energy generated from fossil
fuels (coal and oil). Less use of fossil fuels
means lowering greenhouse gas emissions (CO2and
others) Currently, fossil fuels are consumed faster
than they are produced, so in the next future these
resources may be reduced or the price may increase
becoming inaccessible for most of the population
.Another advantage is the required amount of
fuel: less fuel offers more energy. It represents a
significant save on raw materials but also in
transport, handling and extraction of nuclear fuel.
The cost of nuclear fuel (overall uranium) is 20% of
the cost of energy generated. There is now an
increased number of chemists in demand to study
nuclear fission, and more physicist are tuning in to
help these revolutionary studies on energy
Disadvantages of
Nuclear Fusion in
different fields of
science:

It costs a lot of money to research the

hard to produce and find radioactive
isotopes that are needed in the study, it
gives high risks of health problems
occurring within the scientist who study
them, it also may end in massive disaster
when safety measures aren’t kept and
the plant breakdown and cause illnesses
from radiation poisoning making the
study for them even harder
 Advantages of
Nuclear Fusion in
different fields of
science:

Scientists developing fusion energy

experiments have solved a puzzle of why
their million-degree heating beams
sometimes fail, and instead destabilize the
fusion experiments before energy is
generated., therefore opening new doors
for the understanding of unstable
radioactive isotopes, giving physicists a
well on edge of a scientific brake through
of unlimited energy, clean emissions
therefore helping the biologist in
conserving the animals they study
Group 1
Group 1

Members:
Members:
Joshua Angelo L. Gonzales
Rhency Lei S. Guttierez
Heinz Heaven DR. Duaso
Lourdes Sophia F. Nudalo

Section:
9-Rutherford

9-Rutherford
Nuclear
Fusion and
Fission

Performance
task in
Consumer
Chemistry