Advances in Physics, Mathematics and Applied Science

Interaction and Maintenance

A nuclear reactor, formerly known as atomic pile, is a device used to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion (thermonuclear weapon). Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information to nations not recognized as "Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.