How does nuclear fission reactions differ from natural radioactive decay?
Reference 1 has a good description. Natural radioactive decay is a random, spontaneous process by which a nucleus usually emits a beta partical, alpha particle, gamma ray, or neutron. The atomic number of the decaying nucleus changes its atomic number by a predictable amount. Like fission, radioactive decay does release heat. Nucear fission reactions differ in that they can be controlled to produce a predictable amount of heat. Also the atomic number of the atoms involved can change in widely varying amounts. The Wikipedia discusses the difference in the following quote. “Nuclear fission differs from other forms of radioactive decay in that it can be harnessed and controlled via a chain reaction: free neutrons released by each fission event can trigger yet more events, which in turn release more neutrons and cause more fissions.
