Question

Which reaction takes place in a nuclear fission reactor?
Superscript 13 subscript 6 upper C plus superscript 1 subscript 1 upper H right arrow superscript 14 subscript 7 upper N.
Superscript 239 subscript 94 upper P u plus superscript 4 subscript 2 upper H e right arrow superscript 242 subscript 96 upper C m.
Superscript 59 subscript 27 upper C o plus superscript 4 subscript 2 upper H e right arrow superscript 60 subscript 27 upper C o plus superscript 1 subscript 0 n.

Answer 1

None of the three reactions as written is the typical reaction in a nuclear fission reactor.

Reactor physics is dominated by neutron-induced reactions. The fundamental process is neutron-induced fission of fissile nuclei, for example:
- 235U + 1n → fission fragments + 2–3 1n (neutrons released sustain the chain reaction)
or similarly
- 239Pu + 1n → fission fragments + neutrons.

Common reactor side-reactions include neutron activation, e.g.
- 59Co + 1n → 60Co + γ

By contrast, the three given processes are proton/alpha-capture type reactions (and two of them are written with mass/charge mismatches), which do not describe the neutron-induced fission that powers reactors.