Question

What are the main advantages of nuclear fission relative to nuclear fusion as an energy source? What are the drawbacks?

A.Drawbacks of fission include disposal of radioactive waste and issues of safety.

B. Nuclear fission have no risk to the environment, that is the reason why it is wide spread.

C. Nuclear fission does not require high temperatures or holding materials long enough for nuclei to react.

D. Nuclear fission does require high temperatures or holding materials long enough for nuclei to react.

Answer 1

1. option A) is a certain drawback in Nuclear fission. It creates many daughter nuclei which may in turn be radioactive, thus its disposal creates safety issues. In fusion, two very small nuclei (like, ¹H) fuse to form a slightly bigger nuclei which is definitely not radioactive (²H). It is a cleaner alternative to nuclear fission.
2. option C) is an advantage that fission holds over fusion. For fusion to occur, we need to contain materials at very high temperatures for a reasonable amount of time for fusion to occur, this increases the starting cost of nuclear fusion.