What Is Nuclear Fission?

Nuclear fission means splitting a nucleus into two lighter ones. Scientists have learned that the combined weight of the two new nuclei is slightly less than the original one. The difference is converted into energy. So great is the power in the atom, it has been said, that the fission of a piece of uranium no heavier than a loaf of bread and smaller than a golf ball can provide as much energy as 2,300,000 pounds of coal.
But nuclear fission as an energy source presents problems. For one thing, only 7 percent of uranium, the fuel used for fission, is of a readily fissionable type (called uranium-235).
The hazards of radiation from atomic power plants, especially in the disposal of radioactive wastes, present a more serious problem in the view of many. The danger of cancer and leukemia as a result of radiation is twenty fold higher than the experts thought just a few years ago. And if a nuclear reactor went out of control or was sabotaged by a hostile power it could possibly result in the death of hundreds of thousands of persons.