3 ms·
It's still fission. Just natural decay without management to speed it up or slow it down. In reactors the fuel rods naturally decay slowly and can be sped up wi
by GekkePrutser 6y ago
It's still fission. Just natural decay without management to speed it up or slow it down. In reactors the fuel rods naturally decay slowly and can be sped up with neutrons. So they can be turned 'off' and adapt to changing electricity needs. But RTGS are very static. Principle is still the same though. Both decay, cause heat which is made into electricity.
- acidburnNSA 6y agoTechnically speaking, fission is defined as splitting a nucleus into large chunks, approximately half the size of the original atom. These things use radioactive decay, which is either alpha or beta particles coming out at a constant rate. Alpha and beta decay are not considered fission. (Though you'd have a reasonable case with Beryllium-8 alpha decay to Helium-4!) Spontaneous fission decay is a thing and does happen. But not enough to power any of these kinds of things.