Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Nucleosynthesis is the process that creates new atomic nuclei from pre-existing nucleons (protons and neutrons) and nuclei. According to current theories, the first nuclei were formed a few minutes after the Big Bang, through nuclear reactions in a process called Big Bang nucleosynthesis. [1]
Nuclear fusion–fission hybrid (hybrid nuclear power) is a proposed means of generating power by use of a combination of nuclear fusion and fission processes. The concept dates to the 1950s, and was briefly advocated by Hans Bethe during the 1970s, but largely remained unexplored until a revival of interest in 2009, due to the delays in the ...
Supernova nucleosynthesis is the nucleosynthesis of chemical elements in supernova explosions.. In sufficiently massive stars, the nucleosynthesis by fusion of lighter elements into heavier ones occurs during sequential hydrostatic burning processes called helium burning, carbon burning, oxygen burning, and silicon burning, in which the byproducts of one nuclear fuel become, after ...
Another feature is that the process of nucleosynthesis is determined by conditions at the start of this phase of the life of the universe, and proceeds independently of what happened before. As the universe expands, it cools. Free neutrons are less stable than helium nuclei, and the protons and neutrons have a strong tendency to form helium-4 ...
“Fusion, on the other hand, does not create any long-lived radioactive nuclear waste.” The waste byproduct of a fusion reaction is far less radioactive than in fission, and decays far more ...
In astrophysics, stellar nucleosynthesis is the creation of chemical elements by nuclear fusion reactions within stars. Stellar nucleosynthesis has occurred since the original creation of hydrogen, helium and lithium during the Big Bang. As a predictive theory, it yields accurate estimates of the observed abundances of the elements.
The s-process is believed to occur mostly in asymptotic giant branch stars, seeded by iron nuclei left by a supernova during a previous generation of stars. In contrast to the r-process which is believed to occur over time scales of seconds in explosive environments, the s-process is believed to occur over time scales of thousands of years, passing decades between neutron captures.
The one benefit of using only deuterium is that unlike many other fusion candidates (especially tritium), Earth’s oceans and atmosphere contain a lot of the isotope, also known as heavy water ...