Nuclear fuel

material that can be used in nuclear fission or fusion to derive nuclear energy

Nuclear fuel is a material that can be consumed to take over nuclear energy, by analogy to chemical fuel that is burned for energy. Nuclear fuels are the most dense sources of energy available.

A sample of uranium ore.

Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile elements which to undergo a nuclear fission chain reaction in a nuclear reactor. The most common nuclear fuels are uranium and plutonium but not all nuclear fuels are used in reactors.[1] Some of them power radioisotope thermoelectric generators.

  1. "Nuclear Fusion Power WNA". Archived from the original on 2012-12-25. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
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