How do fission nuclear weapons differ from fission nuclear power and how do the by products of their reaction effect the human race at large?
by 
astropop69
ANSWERS: 2
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They are essentially the same - except one is a moderated reaction, and one isn't. Their products radiate an area for a long time afterwards, however, with a non-exploding situation, we can remove the radioactive rods and dispose of them accordingly, whereas if it explodes, we can't, and we have to sweeped the entire area to clean it up properly.
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They are significantly different. Fission weapons rely on quickly creating a critical mass of U-235 or PU-239. The critical mass creates an amplifying chain reaction that transmutes the fissible isotopes while it blows the mass apart. When the mass begins to blow apart, the reaction becomes more haphazard, and produces all kinds of intermediate fission (radioactive) byproducts, like strontium, cobalt, boron, iodine, and more. Fission nuclear power relies on inducing a high level of radioactive decay from sub-critical-mass assemblies. The decay does contribute to a chain reaction, along with moderators that either slow or reflect neutron flux. If a fast neutron system is used, the U-238 (the non-radioactive isotope of uranium) is transmuted into PU-239, which can, in turn, be used to fuel further reaction. Plutonium, in fission decay, is MUCH cleaner than uranium, and produces lower quantities of waste, which is also much more manageable.
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