Energy dissipated by a nuclear fission

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
1 reply · 3K views
jaumzaum
Messages
433
Reaction score
33
In a nuclear fission of the uranium for example, the uranium atom can be subdivided in Kr and Ba + 2 neutrons + energy dissipated. This energy comes from the mass defect of the uranium in relation to Kr+Ba+2 neutrons. Is this energy full released in the form of photons? Is this energy full used to accelerate (increase kinetic energy) of the products? Or is it used by both processes? In this case, what will be the more significant one ?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
From here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fission#Output

When a uranium nucleus fissions into two daughter nuclei fragments, about 0.1 percent of the mass of the uranium nucleus[6] appears as the fission energy of ~200 MeV. For uranium-235 (total mean fission energy 202.5 MeV), typically ~169 MeV appears as the kinetic energy of the daughter nuclei, which fly apart at about 3% of the speed of light, due to Coulomb repulsion. Also, an average of 2.5 neutrons are emitted, with a mean kinetic energy per neutron of ~2 MeV (total of 4.8 MeV).[7] The fission reaction also releases ~7 MeV in prompt gamma ray photons. The latter figure means that a nuclear fission explosion or criticality accident emits about 3.5% of its energy as gamma rays, less than 2.5% of its energy as fast neutrons (total of both types of radiation ~ 6%), and the rest as kinetic energy of fission fragments (this appears almost immediately when the fragments impact surrounding matter, as simple heat). In an atomic bomb, this heat may serve to raise the temperature of the bomb core to 100 million kelvin and cause secondary emission of soft X-rays, which convert some of this energy to ionizing radiation. However, in nuclear reactors, the fission fragment kinetic energy remains as low-temperature heat, which itself causes little or no ionization.