Helps control the rate of fission in the reactor.
What are control rods?
When a larger nucleus splits into two or more smaller neuclei, it is called this type of reaction.
What is fission?
The combining of of two smaller nuclei.
What is fusion?
The element produced when neptunium-237 undergoes beta decay.
What is Pu-237?
What are protons and neutrons?
The percent of an unstable substance that remains after 3 half-lives.
What is 12.5%?
Acts as a protective barrier from radiation emitted from the pressure vessel.
What is the containment building?
The main uses of nuclear fission.
What are in power plants and weapons?
The largest element that can be made during normal nucleosynthesis in massive stars.
What is iron?
The daughter product of the alpha decay of Ra-224.
What is Rn-220?
Elements with atomic numbers greater than ________ or mass numbers greater than ______ are all radioactive.
What are 93 (atomic number) and 209 (atomic mass)?
The definition of half-life.
What is the time it takes for half of a radioactive sample to decay?
Large blades that spin when hit by pressurized steam, the rotation is what causes the generator to spin.
What is the turbine?
This subatomic particle is used to start a fission reaction and is also one of the products of the reaction.
What is a neutron?
The main reason our current nuclear reactors are unable to make fusion feasable as an energy source.
What are very high temperatures?
This type of nuclear energy is often ejected during other nuclear decays; especially electron capture and positron emission.
What is gamma decay?
A nuclear decay series finally ends with this.
What is a stable atom?
After 37.50 minutes, this is the mass of 47.95 grams of a radioactive isotope (half-life of 12.50 minutes) that remains.
What is 5.994 grams?
Pellets of uranium arranged in long steel cylinders.
What are fuel rods?
Reaction that creates nuetrons as a product in order to sustain itself.
What is a chain reaction?
The amount of nuclear waste produced in fusion reactions.
What is none?
This is produced by the positron emission decay of sulfur-36.
What is phosphorus-36 and gamma rays?
The most stable ratio of neutrons to protons in elements under atomic number 20.
What is 1:1?
If 128.4 mg decays to 2.006 mg in 147 years, this is the half-life of the sample.
What is 24.5 years?
Huge mass of coiled wire spinning in a magnetic field to create electric current.
What is a generator?
The minimum amount of fissionable material required to sustain a chain reaction.
What is critical mass?
This is released when a nucleus is formed from its constituent particles.
What is binding energy?
When this element undergoes beta decay, the product is nitrogen-14.
What is carbon-14?
This is the only radioactive decay that does not decrease the atomic number of the element.
What is beta decay?
It will take this many years for a sample of a radioactive substance (half-life 3550 years) to have 15/16 of the substance decay.
What is 14,200 years?
Heavily shielded structure containing fuel rods, control rods, and coolant.
What is the pressure vessel?
The missing product of the fission of the common isotope of uranium shown below:

What is Krypton-92?
Nuclide created by the fusion reaction below:

What is phosphorus-30?
Radium-226 produces these products by electron capture.
What is francium-226 and gamma?
The spontaneous disintegration of a nucleus into a slightly lighter and more stable nucleus, accompanied by emission of particles, electromagnetic radiation, or both, is called this.
What is radioactive decay?
Radon-222 has a half-life of 3.82 days. If a sample currently has a mass of 60.47 mg, this was its mass 19.1 days ago.
What is 1935 mg?