Renewable
Nuclear bombs can use either nuclear fission or nuclear fusion as the primary mechanism of energy release. Most nuclear bombs in current arsenals rely on nuclear fission reactions, while thermonuclear bombs use a fission reaction to trigger a fusion reaction.
all nuclear explosives use some fission. even now.
Nuclear fission happens spontaneously in nature. Uranium-235 does this, and is the only commonly occurring natural isotope that does. Nuclear fission can be induced by crashing a neutron into a fissionable atom. Some things other than Uranium-235 are fissionable, notably Uranium-238. Fission has been induced in various experiments. It happens in nuclear reactors and in nuclear bombs.
Nuclear bombs use nuclear fission of some heavy element, usually uranium or plutonium. Thermonuclear bombs use the detonation of a fission bomb to ignite the fusion of hydrogen. Such weapons are more powerful than ordinary nuclear weapons because nuclear fusion releases more energy than nuclear fission, and because the process of fusion itself can be used to ignite more fission.
Almost all modern nuclear explosive devices use some of each. The early atomic bombs used only fission. All hydrogen bombs use both fission and fusion. Some things you might want to look up are: boosted fission bomb, external electrical fusor neutron source, the plutonium "fission sparkplug" used in each stage of a hydrogen bomb, depleted uranium hydrogen bomb tamper can provide up to 90% of the total yield through fast fission.
A nuclear weapon is any device which utilizes the power produced by either nuclear fission or fusion (mostly fission) to inflict damage upon some type of target. Almost all, if not all nuclear weapons are explosives, either bombs or missile warheads.
fission nuclear energyfusion nuclear energyradioactive decay
Yes, nuclear fusion produces some radioactive waste, but it is generally less than what is produced by nuclear fission.
Burning wood, cooking food on a stove, and rusting metal are all examples of chemical reactions that are not examples of nuclear fission. Additionally, photosynthesis, respiration, and fermentation are biological processes which do not involve nuclear fission.
Some potential drawbacks of nuclear fission include the generation of radioactive waste that requires long-term storage, the risk of nuclear accidents such as meltdowns, the proliferation of nuclear weapons material, and the high cost of building and maintaining nuclear power plants.
Simply put, nuclear fission is the splitting of an atomic nucleus. It relates to radioactivity in that some isotopes of some elements (and not very many) naturally decay by spontaneous fission. There is a separate question about what spontaneous fission is, and it is linked below.
Pro- Lots of energy Con- Hard to contain