What is the main fuel for a fission reaction?

Answer 1

Uranium 235....but Uranium 238 is also present and will absorb a neutron and become Plutonium 239 and adds approximately 10% of the net power in most commercial fuels used in the USA.

Most people are not aware that a reactor produces many transuranic elements, not just Plutonium, and that all of these elements have isotopes suitable for reactor fuel.

Answer 2

In new fuel, Uranium-235, usually about 5 percent of the total Uranium, the rest is U-238. As the fuel is burned up, some of the U-238 turns to Plutonium-239 which also contributes to the power output

Answer 3

Uranium 235 is the fuel used in conventional US reactors. However, as the fuel is enriched in this isotope to only 3-5%, as the reactor continues to operate a fraction of the remaining Uranium 238 will abosrb a neutron and subsequently decay to become plutonium 239. This isotope of plutonium is also fissile, and will contribute to the power produced towards the end of the fuel's life cycle in the reactor. There are other possible reactor fuels, such as Uranium 233. Fast reactor designs use plutonium 239 as the reactor fuel. And there has always been a desire to use mixed oxide (MOX) fuels that are a mixture of uanium 235 and plutonium 239 to "burn" weapons grade materials that were previously loaded in nuclear weapons that have been decomissioned.

Answer 4

Typically, Uranium. In most Pressurized Water Reactors, Uranium-235 or -239.

Answer 5

The most common type of fuel that is used in fission reactors is U-235.

Answer 6

Fission is when atoms split apart into smaller atoms releasing the excess energy as heat or radiation. Uranium 235 and Plutonium 239 are common fuels.

Answer 7

Uranium and plutonium