Nuclear Fission and Nuclear Fusion

A nuclear power station works in much the same way as a normal power station however instead of burning coal it uses nuclear fuel inside a nuclear reactor. The nuclear fuel is basically unstable atoms which splits apart to make smaller atoms and relasing large amounts of energy. 

The process of an atom splitting is called Nuclear Fission. 

In the case of a nuclear power station the fuel is caller Uranium. This is an unstable atom which splits when a neutron is fired into it at a high speed. 

It splits to make Barium and Krypton as well as relasing 3 neutrons each moving at a high speed which can split further Uranium atoms. This is called a chain reaction and in a nuclear reactor it has to be controlled otherwise the reaction would get three times bigger at every stage and could be dangerous. 

In a nuclear power station the coal burner is replaced with a Nuclear Reactor. Inside this the uranium breaks down and releases heat energy, this energy is then used to heat a special gas which in turn heats water thust turning it into steam. This steam will then drive the turbine. 

The nuclear reactor also has control rods in it,These are made out of boron and can absorb the neutrons and control the speed of the reactor. If the reactor…