LibGuides: VCE Physics Unit 2: Option 2.6: How do fusion and fission compare as viable nuclear energy power sources?

Option 2.6: How do fusion and fission compare as viable nuclear energy power sources?

Fission and fusion are nuclear reactions that produce relatively large quantities of energy from comparatively small quantities of fuel. This option enables students to compare the production of energy from fission and fusion reactions. They study a model of the atom that explains the source of the large amounts of energy produced. Students explore the viability of using nuclear power as an energy source and evaluate its benefits and risks.

On completion of this unit the student should be able to apply the concepts of nuclear physics to describe and analyse nuclear energy as a power source.

Energy from the nucleus

Nuclear energy - the theory
Fusion concepts
Click on the links to find out more about each concept.
Nuclear fusion
If light nuclei are forced together, they will fuse with a yield of energy because the mass of the combination will be less than the sum of the masses of the individual nuclei.
Deuterium-tritium fusion
The most promising of the hydrogen fusion reactions which make up the deuterium cycle is the fusion of deuterium and tritium.
Proton-proton fusion
This is the nuclear fusion process which fuels the Sun and other stars which have core temperatures less than 15 million Kelvin. A reaction cycle yields about 25 MeV of energy.

Nuclear energy as a power source

Nuclear energy - the practice
Fusion compared with fission
Nuclear fission concepts
Uranium-235 fission
In one of the most remarkable phenomena in nature, a slow neutron can be captured by a uranium-235 nucleus, rendering it unstable toward nuclear fission.