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The daughter atoms from nuclear fission are nearly always radioactive and nearly always have very short half lives decaying through chains of atoms of short half lives. There is a reason for this.

We do not know exactly what the daughter atoms from the fission of a given atom will be, but we do know they will contain all the protons of the parent. The number of neutrons is also preserved, though a few unbound neutrons are usually emitted from the fission. Since atoms with higher atomic numbers can have a greater proportion of protons to neutrons, the daughters usually have far too many neutrons to be stable, and will usually undergo negative beta decay. For example, the fission of 235U might look like this:

92235U --> 3692Kr + 56141Ba + 2n

The most massive stable isotope of krypton is 86Kr, so our daughter krypton atom has six too many neutrons to be stable. The decay chain of the 92Kr, given as isotopes and half lives, is as follows, with all decays by negative beta decay:

92Kr 1.8 seconds

92Rb 4.5 seconds

92Sr 2.71 hours

92Y 3.54 hours

92Zr stable

The most massive stable isotope of barium is 138Ba, so our daughter has three too many neutrons to be stable. The decay chain of the 141Ba similar to the above is as follows, again all by negative beta decay:

141Ba 18.27 minutes

141La 3.92 hours

141Ce 32.5 days

141Pr stable

Most of the daughter decay chains do not produce stable isotopes nearly as quickly as the above, with many having products with half lives of decades to millennia. By comparison, our parent atom, 235U, had a half life of 703,800,000 years.

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โˆ™ 13y ago
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โˆ™ 14y ago

Yes in a way. It produces nuclear waste of different strengths which is radioactive

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โˆ™ 8y ago

Both fission and fusion produce radiation as they occur, but it is fission that produces radioactive byproducts.

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โˆ™ 13y ago

Nuclear fission often produces radioactive byproducts but generally not fusion.

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โˆ™ 8y ago

Yes. The products of nuclear fission are usually highly radioactive.

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Q: Does fission or fussion produce radioactive by-products?
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What are the main advantage of a fusion reactor compared to a fission reactor?

It doesn't produce radioactive byproducts.


How does radioactive materials used to produce nuclear energy?

Nuclear energy is produced by fission of new fuel, which is only very slightly radioactive to start with (it is safe to handle unprotected). It becomes radioactive during the reactor's operation, and at the end of life the radioactivity of the fuel contributes some 5% or so of the output heat, the rest is due to fission directly. There are some uses for radioactive isotopes to produce electricity directly but these are only used in satellites for small instrument type supplies.


What are the advantages of a fusion reactor compared to a fission reactor?

You must realise that any claimed advantages are based on scientists predictions, and to some extent wishful thinking, as it is not even determined in engineering terms how a nuclear fusion plant could be built, what materials could be used, and how the heat would be extracted. However ever since fusion was proposed, scientists have been pointing out that it would produce much less radioactivity than fission does, and this is true, there would not be the spent fuel containing very highly active fission products that fission produces. There would be activation of structures in the plant due to the neutron irradiation coming from the plasma undergoing fusion. There are also consequences from needing to produce the tritium fuel, which is a dangerous substance to human health. So it all depends on future progress with ITER and further test rigs, but at the moment it is academic since it is very unlikely to happen within this century.


Which nuclear reaction uses the least expensive materials and produce the least amount of radioactive by-product?

You would probably be talking about nuclear fusion, but it is not available for use and probably won't be for another 50 years, so it's an academic matter. For useful power, fission reactors are the only technology we have, and they all use uranium and produce similar amounts of fission products


For a sustainable fission reaction each fission must produce exactly additional fission reaction(s).?

A stable nuclear fission reaction will be sustained if every fission produces one additional fission reaction.

Related questions

What are the main advantage of a fusion reactor compared to a fission reactor?

It doesn't produce radioactive byproducts.


Did the atomic bomb use fussion for its explosive power?

The atomic bombs used during World War II used fission to produce the nuclear chain reaction.


What causes a nuclear reactor that is used for power supply to continually produce toxic waste?

It's all about the nuclear fission byproducts. When fission occurs, a couple of neutrons are produced. But what happened to the rest of the uranium atom? The bulk of its mass remains as fission fragments. The fission fragments are radioactive byproducts of the event, and they in turn have to decay (radioactively) into something that is stable. This can take several transitions, and the decay rates vary from fractions of a second to millions of years. Spent fuel is highly radioactive ("hot"), and it has a variety of long-lived radionuclides in it. Nuclear fuel is seal up (welded inside) cladding to "keep it in one place" when fuel plates or fuel rods are produced. The spent fuel has all this highly radioactive and nasty-as-heck stuff inside the fuel plates or fuel rods. The radioactive byproducts are radioactive (and highly so!) for a long, long, long time. Aside from the possibility of radioactive contamination that might occur in a nuclear accident, the long-term storage of spent fuel is a major headache. The length of time it will take for the stuff to "cool off" radioactively, once the (fairly simple) physics of radioactive decay is comprehended, will leave the understanding person ill. Use the link to the Wikipedia article on long-lived fission products and skim it. Note what is produced and the half-lives of the stuff. It's disconcerting.


Why would a nuclear fusion plant be better than a fission?

One thing is that it would not produce the very active radioactive fission products that nuclear fission reactors produce. However as there is no practical experience yet it is difficult to be sure if there are dangers and risks not fully evaluated yet.


The two processes which produce nuclear changes are?

Fission & Fusion. I JUST now got an answer right by using this. Good Luck! :D Hope this was helpful.


Which reaction used for nuclear power plant. fission or fussion?

Nuclear fission. Larger atoms are broken into smaller parts and energy is released. Nuclear fusion is where lighter atoms are fused together - as happens in the sun. This also produce energy, though much more.


Why would a fusion reactor produce less radioactive waste than a fission reactor?

In my understanding, this is because a fusion reactor reacts deuterium to produce helium, which is not radioactive, whereas a fission uses uranium or plutonium, for example, which may react to form various radioactive isotopes. A fusion reactor may contain small quantities of tritium, in which case a radioactive isotope of hydrogen may be produced, but given that the majority of reactions occurring involve solely the deuterium, there is less radioactive waste produced.


How does radioactive materials used to produce nuclear energy?

Nuclear energy is produced by fission of new fuel, which is only very slightly radioactive to start with (it is safe to handle unprotected). It becomes radioactive during the reactor's operation, and at the end of life the radioactivity of the fuel contributes some 5% or so of the output heat, the rest is due to fission directly. There are some uses for radioactive isotopes to produce electricity directly but these are only used in satellites for small instrument type supplies.


Why do nuclear fuel rods heat in a reactor that is shut down?

Because the fission products that are contained in the fuel are radioactive and produce a substantial amount of heat.


If a fusion reaction produces no appreciable radioactive isotopes then why does a hydrogen bomb produce significant radioactive fallout?

A hydrogen bomb is actually a fission-fusion-fission reaction. The primary fission trigger (plutonium) supplies the energy to induce fusion, but then the fusion energy is used to initiate the secondary fission, which is a large amount of uranium. (in a "clean" H bomb, the uranium is replaced with lead, making it much weaker) also, the radiation will affect the surrounding area, creating a large number of isotopes, dramatically increasing the radioactive fallout.-Akilae


Is krypton man made?

Krypton is an element, and all elements are the result of nuclear fission, nuclear fusion or radioactive decay. Krypton is one of the byproducts of the nuclear fission of Uranium and Plutonium, either from atomic bombs or nuclear reactors. Since Krypton is not one of the results of a natural radioactive decay chain, the only other possible source of Krypton is from nuclear fusion, and the only source of fusion powerful enough to produce it would be a supernova.


What waste products come from power stations?

Radioactive waste is a waste product containing radioactive material. It is usually the product of a nuclear process such as nuclear fission, though industries not directly connected to the nuclear power industry may also produce radioactive waste.