Home > Encyclopedia of Science > Nuclear Fission

• History
• Putting nuclear fission to work
• Words to Know
• The first atomic bomb
• Nuclear fission in peacetime

Nuclear fission is a process in which the nucleus of a heavy atom is broken apart into two or more smaller nuclei. The reaction was first discovered in the late 1930s when a target of uranium metal was bombarded with neutrons. Uranium nuclei broke into two smaller nuclei of roughly equal size with the emission of very large amounts of energy. Some scientists immediately recognized the potential of the nuclear fission reaction for the production of bombs and other types of weapons as well as for the generation of power for peacetime uses.

History

The fission reaction was discovered...