Do Photons Contribute to the Energy Released in Nuclear Explosions?

[thetexan]

I'm reading about the interesting data that suggests a new heavy particle about 750 GeV. It talks about the energy being the mass times the velocity of light squared and is indicated by the two photons as the particles decay.

I guess it's the same with this and a nuclear explosion which brought up this question as to energy released...

In the case of a nuclear explosion...when the explosion takes place and the energy is released do the photons released (very bright explosion) account for any of the calculated energy? Since photons have no mass are they considered part of the energy released when calculating it?

tex

 

[.Scott]

Could you cite the article you are reading?

Photons have no rest mass. That doesn't mean they have no mass equivalency.
So, yes, during a nuclear explosion, a great deal of the mass is converted to energy in the form of photon - thus preserving mass/energy conservation.

 

[thetexan]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...re-new-particle-doesn-t-fit-laws-physics.html