absorber

A device which causes gas or vapor to be absorbed by a liquid.

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press


star

Sranan Tongo: stari
Aukan: sitali

→ Finnish: stara

→ French: star

→ German: Star

→ Italian: star

→ Swahili: staa

From Middle English sterre, from Old English steorra (“star”), from Proto-West Germanic *sterrō, variant of *sternō, from Proto-Germanic *sternô, *sternǭ (“star”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (“star”). Doublet of aster, stella, étoile, and estoile.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots starn, ster, North Frisian steer, West Frisian stjer, Saterland Frisian Stiern, Dutch ster, Luxembourgish Stär, German Stern, Yiddish שטערן (shtern), Vilamovian śtaom, Swedish stjärna, Norwegian stjerne, Icelandic stjarna, Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐍉 (stairnō), Spanish estrella, Portuguese estrela, Italian stella, Romanian stea, Occitan estela, Venetan stéła, Sicilian stidda, Sardinian isteddu, Mirandese streilha, Walloon sitoele, Romansch staila, Megleno-Romanian steau̯ă, Istriot stila, Istro-Romanian ste, Latin stēlla, Greek αστέρι (astéri), Ancient Greek ἀστήρ (astḗr), Old Armenian աստղ (astł), Persian ستاره (setâre), Tajik ситора (sitora), Pashto ستوری (storay), Mazanderani اساره (ëssâre), Northern Kurdish stêr, Central Kurdish ئەستێرە (estêre), Zazaki astare, Ossetian стъалы (st’aly), Hindi तारा (tārā), Urdu تارا (tārā), Punjabi ਤਾਰਾ (tārā), Gujarati તારો (tāro), Sanskrit तारा (tārā).

аеҵǝа

a celestial body appearing as a point of light on the clear night sky, whose position is relatively fixed with respect to each other

(astronomy) A spheroid of plasma with sufficient gravity to fuse hydrogen or heavier elements into heavier elements still. Depending on context the Sun may or may not be included.

نَجْم

(astronomy) a luminous celestial body made of plasma

A composition of combustible matter used in the heading of rockets, in mines, etc., which, exploding in the air, presents a starlike appearance.


nuclear

en-noun

nuclear (countable and uncountable, plural nuclears)

From Latin nū̆cleus, a contraction of the adjective nuculeus, masculine of feminine nuculea (“pertaining to a small nut”) from nucula + adjectival suffix -eus, -ea, -eum. The Latin nucula + -āris adds up to nuculāris, a term that in English becomes nucular; the Latin nuculea + -āris, becomes Latin nuculeāris (“relative to what pertains to small nut”), later contracted into nuclear. By surface analysis, nucle(us) + -ar = nucle- + -ar. Compare muscle and Latin mūsculus; muscular and mūsculāris.

cog

The growth in wind capacity at first lagged behind the expansion of nuclear installations, but then it started to grow faster and is now outpacing nuclear.

2015, Vital Signs Volume 22: The Trends That Are Shaping Our Future, The Worldwatch Institute:


cold fusion

Cold fusion (disambiguation)
cold fusion

A hypothetical form of nuclear fusion not requiring the usual immensely high temperatures; nuclear fusion at or near room temperature.


torch

The noun is derived from Middle English torch, torche (“large candle; lighted stick; (figurative) sunbeam”), from Old French torche, torque (“torch; bundle of (twisted) straw”) (modern French torche); further etymology uncertain, probably from Vulgar Latin *torca (“coiled object”) (referring to a torch made from twisted plant fibres dipped in a flammable substance such as pitch), from Latin torqua, a variant of torquis (“collar of twisted metal, torque; wreath”), from torqueō (“to twist, wind”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to spin; to turn”).
Sense 2.3 (Verbascum thapsus) is either due to the plant’s spike of yellow flowers, or because its leaves and stalks were used to make torches (noun sense 1). Sense 3.2 (“precious cause, etc., which needs to be protected and transmitted to others”) is derived from Latin lampada trādere, from Ancient Greek λᾰμπᾰ́δᾰ πᾰρᾰδιδόναι (lampáda paradidónai, “to hand over the torch”), a reference to the torch race held at various festivals such as the Panathenaic Games in Ancient Greece, which involved a relay where a torch was passed from one runner to another.
The verb is derived from the noun.

cog

λᾰμπᾰ́δᾰ πᾰρᾰδιδόναι

sueo'

stick of wood, etc., with one end soaked in a flammable substance and set on fire; similarly shaped implement with a replaceable supply of flammable material

(science fiction) Short for torch drive (“a spacecraft engine which produces thrust by nuclear fusion”).


torch

en-verb

torch (third-person singular simple present torches, present participle torching, simple past and past participle torched)

torches (present singular third-person)
torching (participle present)
torched (participle past)
torched (past)

cog

λᾰμπᾰ́δᾰ πᾰρᾰδιδόναι

(science fiction) To travel in a spacecraft propelled by a torch drive (“an engine which produces thrust by nuclear fusion”).

to travel in a spacecraft propelled by a torch drive

matkustaa fuusiolla toimivalla avaruusaluksella


hydrogen bomb

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-hydrogen bomb.wav

A thermonuclear bomb that derives its destructive power from the fusion of isotopes of hydrogen (deuterium and tritium).


nuclear fusion

en-noun

nuclear fusion (usually uncountable, plural nuclear fusions)

The emergence of this new large-scale lab-based astrophysics was an unanticipated side effect of a much broader, more fraught, and now quite in-the-news scientific journey: the quest for nuclear fusion.

2023 January 3, Adam Frank, “The Universe Is More in Our Hands Than Ever Before”, in The Atlantic:

(nuclear physics) The combining of the nuclei of small atoms to form the nuclei of larger ones, with a resulting release of large quantities of energy; the process that makes the sun shine, and hydrogen bombs explode.

اِنْدِمَاج نَوَوِيّ

the combining of the nuclei of small atoms to form the nuclei of larger ones


thermonuclear

I can't believe you gave me, a ten-year-old boy, a thermonuclear device [...]

2021 January 30, ISP, quoting iSorrowproductions, Beating Fallout 3 But Every Enemy Has A NUKE - Every Enemy Has A Fat Man Mod:

Of, or relating to the use of atomic weapons based on such fusion, especially as distinguished from those based on fission.


fusion

fusion (countable and uncountable, plural fusions)

fission

antonym(s) of “nuclear reaction in which nuclei combine”

First appears c. 1555, in a translation by Richard Eden. From Middle French fusion, from Latin fūsiōnem (the accusative of fūsiō), from fusus, past participle of fundō (“I pour, I melt”) (see also found). Doublet of foison.

The act of merging separate elements, or the result thereof.

(physics) A nuclear reaction in which nuclei combine to form more massive nuclei with the concomitant release of energy.


chain reaction

The Manhattan Project produced the first recorded controlled chain reaction.

(nuclear physics) A nuclear reaction in which particles produced by the fission of one atom trigger fissions of other atoms.


enriched uranium

(chemistry, military) Uranium enriched with a higher than normal amount of the fissile isotope U-235; used in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons.

verrykte uraan

uranium enriched with a higher amount of U-235


NRC

Nuclear Regulatory Commission
w:Nuclear Regulatory Commission

(US) Initialism of Nuclear Regulatory Commission.


nuclear fission

nuclear fission (usually uncountable, plural nuclear fissions)

(nuclear physics) A nuclear reaction in which a large nucleus splits into smaller ones, sometimes accompanied by the simultaneous release of energy.


back end

Together, the MathDocument and PaperController classes comprise the MathPaper application's front end, while the Evaluator makes up the application's back end. This technique of having separate front and back ends is a common […]

2002, Simson Garfinkel, Michael K. Mahoney, Building Cocoa Applications: A Step-by-step Guide, "O'Reilly Media, Inc.", →ISBN, page 295:

(computing) That part of a hardware or software system that is farthest from the user; the internals rather than the user interface.

後端

computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) The latter end of any given time, especially the latter part of the year; autumn; late autumn.

so-called “back end” deals is speculative at best. Ideally, the author or book publisher will secure a percentage of gross revenues rather than net profits, but such deals are rare indeed.

1995, Jonathan Kirsch, Kirsch's Handbook of Publishing Law, page 212:

How does the taking of “back end” compensation affect the creative control asserted by an actor?

2003, Melvin Simensky, Entertainment Law, page 1222:

That kind of money, he can get a piece of anybody's back end he wants." “It's an industry phrase. Means if the picture is a big hit, he gets a share of the profits, sometimes even a percentage of gross.

[…] Miramax was going to buy out the U.S. and Canadian rights to the picture and terminate everyone else's participation for a payout that included a guaranteed amount for the back end, as well as bonuses if the film exceeded certain levels of U.S. box office performance.

2013, Peter Biskind, Down and Dirty Pictures:

(entertainment, etc.) Money paid on a contingent deferred basis, for example, as a proportion of the profits or revenue of a work.

The processing of spent fuel from a nuclear reactor into reusable materials.


fission

fission (countable and uncountable, plural fissions)

Borrowed from Latin fissiōnem, accusative singular of fissiō (“the act of breaking up”), from findō (“split, divide”).

(nuclear physics) Short for nuclear fission: The process of splitting the nucleus of an atom into smaller particles.


protostar

/ˈpɹəʊtə(ʊ)stɑː/

-əʊtəʊstɑː(ɹ)

-əʊtəstɑː(ɹ)

From proto- + star. Compare later protostellar.

(astronomy) A collection of gas and dust in space with high temperature that usually grows to the point of beginning nuclear fusion and becoming a star.


atomic pile

From the fact that the first nuclear reactor, at the University of Chicago in 1942-1943, was literally constituted by a tall pile (heap) of graphite moderator blocks. Compare also charcoal pile, a traditional improvised kiln used in charcoal making, which uses a similar basic design to contain a volatile process. The fact that English pile also is related to French pile (“battery”) (with senses of a collection of components and a power source, often both coinstantiated) has also been noted as an interesting nexus of word roots and semantic themes.

1948 The second atomic pile at the Government's research establishment at Harwell […] is expected to be brought into use this summer – The Times (London), May 11 1948, pg 2 col A

(nuclear physics) An early nuclear reactor fueled by uranium and moderated with graphite.

mile

an early nuclear reactor fueled by uranium and moderated with graphite

nuclear stockpile

semantically quite different from a nuclear pile


nuclear aircraft

nuclear aircraft (plural nuclear aircraft)

A proposed aircraft that would be powered by nuclear energy.


nuclear reactor

nuclear reactor (plural nuclear reactors)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-nuclear reactor.wav

Some newspapers in the United States, in Japan, and in South Korea printed photographs of North Korean nuclear reactors and nuclear plants, photos that were said to have been taken by U.S. military satellites. Most of the exposures were from a nuclear research establishment at Ninghian Chun in Pingan Beidao, only 80 km from Pyongyang.

1993 August 9 [1993 April 8], Zhongqing Tian, “Change in Overall Situation on the Korean Peninsula”, in JPRS Report China, number 93-057, United States Joint Publications Research Service, →OCLC, page 7, column 2:

(physics) Any device in which a controlled chain reaction is maintained for the purpose of creating heat (for power generation) or for creating neutrons and other fission products for experimental, medical or other purposes.


nuclear energy

The energy released by a nuclear reaction; either through nuclear fission or nuclear fusion


moderator

/ˈmɒdəˌɹeɪtə(ɹ)/

Learned borrowing from Latin moderātor. First attested as Middle English moderatour.

(nuclear physics) A substance (often water or graphite) used to decrease the speed of fast neutrons in a nuclear reactor and hence increase likelihood of fission.


hydrogen warhead

hydrogen warhead (plural hydrogen warheads)

a small thermonuclear device in the warhead of a missile


helium fusion

(nuclear physics) nuclear fusion involving helium nuclei.


nuclear chemistry

(chemistry) The application of chemical techniques to the solution of problems in nuclear physics, including the discovery of naturally occurring and synthetic radioactive elements and the results of nuclear fission.


silicon burning

(physics, astronomy) the nucleosynthesis process, in stars where temperatures exceed 3x10⁹K, in which silicon undergoes photodisintegration to form fragments which in turn produce elements of atomic number up to 60, peaking at iron


oxygen burning

oxygen burning (usually uncountable, plural oxygen burnings)

(physics, astronomy) The nucleosynthesis process, subsequent to carbon burning, in which neon disintegrates to oxygen which subsequently fuses to form silicon, phosphorus sulfur and other elements of atomic number up to 40.


carbon burning

(physics, astronomy) the nucleosynthesis process, in stars of greater than 8 solar mass that have exhausted their helium supply, in which carbon is converted to neon, sodium, magnesium and other elements


LiBeB process

(physics, astronomy) Any nucleosynthesis process, the details of which are unclear, that accounts for the light elements lithium, berylium and boron which cannot survive in stellar interiors because they are destroyed by proton capture.


CNO cycle

carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle
carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle


s-process

(nuclear physics, astrophysics) the relatively slow nucleosynthesis process, in giant stars, in which neutron capture synthesizes elements up to atomic mass number 210 (at which point alpha decay becomes a deterrent to further building).


helium burning

(physics, astronomy) the nucleosynthesis process, in stars with temperatures over 10⁸K, in which helium is converted to carbon and then to oxygen, neon and magnesium

Heliumbrennen

process, in which helium is converted to carbon


nucleosynthesis

nucleosynthesis (countable and uncountable, plural nucleosyntheses)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-nucleosynthesis.wav

(physics, astronomy) Any of several processes that lead to the synthesis of heavier atomic nuclei.

nucleosynthese

process that leads to synthesis in stars


hydrogen burning

(physics, astronomy) the nucleosynthesis process, in stars of less than 1.2 solar mass, in which hydrogen is converted to helium, deuterium and some lithium

Wasserstoffbrennen

process, in which hydrogen is converted to helium


carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle

(physics, astronomy) A group of nuclear reactions, that involve the interaction of protons with carbon, nitrogen and oxygen nuclei, thought to be the main source of energy in main-sequence stars of greater than 1.4 solar mass.

ciclo del carbonio-azoto

a group of nuclear reactions thought to be the main source of energy in main-sequence stars of greater than 1.4 solar mass


r-process

(nuclear physics, astrophysics) The relatively rapid nucleosynthesis process, in supernovae, in which a large neutron flux allows rapid neutron capture and synthesis of elements up to the transuranic elements.


ICF

inertial confinement fusion
inertial confinement fusion#English

Initialism of inertial confinement fusion.


lithium deuteride

thermonuclear weapon
thermonuclear weapon

(inorganic chemistry) a form of lithium hydride in which the normal hydrogen is replaced with deuterium; used in thermonuclear weapons


brown dwarf

brown dwarf (plural brown dwarfs or brown dwarves)

brown dwarfs (plural)
brown dwarves (plural)

(astronomy) A starlike object that contracts to about the volume of Jupiter after its formation phase; its mass may range from several times that of Jupiter, such that it fuses deuterium, up to just below the threshold of sustained hydrogen fusion.


thermalize

en-verb

thermalize (third-person singular simple present thermalizes, present participle thermalizing, simple past and past participle thermalized)

thermalizes (present singular third-person)
thermalizing (participle present)
thermalized (participle past)
thermalized (past)

To lower the speed and kinetic energy of fast neutrons in a nuclear reactor by use of a moderator, and thus increase the efficiency of fission


Faded Giant

(US, euphemistic, military) A reporting term to identify an event involving a nuclear reactor or radiological accident.


radioactive waste

en-noun

radioactive waste (countable and uncountable, plural radioactive wastes)

Dealing with all the radioactive waste left on site is a slow-motion race against time, which will last so long that even the grandchildren of those working on site will not see its end. The process will cost at least £121bn.

December 15 2022, Samanth Subramanian, “Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, in The Guardian:

For 75 years, it has fulfilled a wide range of roles: producing weapons-grade plutonium for early atomic weapons in the aftermath of the Second World War; the world's first commercial nuclear power station supplying electricity to the National Grid; reprocessing and storage of nuclear fuel; and the processing of lower grades of radioactive waste for off-site storage.

2023 December 27, Ben Jones, “Inside Sellafield... by rail”, in RAIL, number 999, page 20:


thermonuclear weapon

thermonuclear weapon (plural thermonuclear weapons)

A weapon whose power is derived from nuclear fusion at high temperature


nuclear power

nuclear power (countable and uncountable, plural nuclear powers)

(uncountable) Power, especially electrical power, obtained using nuclear fission or nuclear fusion.


hydrino

A supposed form of hydrogen having a lower energy than that of the normal ground state; postulated to explain the outcome of early cold fusion experiments.


positron emission tomography
positron emission tomography

(physics) A radioactive isotope of nitrogen, ¹³₇N, having seven protons and six neutrons, and a half-life of less than ten minutes; it is used in positron emission tomography. It also plays a role in the CNO cycle.


pro-nuclear

en-adj

pro-nuclear (comparative more pro-nuclear, superlative most pro-nuclear)

more pro-nuclear (comparative)
most pro-nuclear (superlative)

In favor of the use of nuclear energy and the building of nuclear power plants.


torcher

/ˈtɔːt͡ʃə(ɹ)/

-ɔː(ɹ)tʃə(ɹ)

(science fiction) The pilot of a spacecraft propelled by a torch drive (a spacecraft engine which produces thrust by nuclear fusion).


tokamak

Borrowed from Russian токама́к (tokamák), an acronym of то(роида́льная) ка́(мера) (с) ма(гни́тными) к(ату́шками) (to(roidálʹnaja) ká(mera) (s) ma(gnítnymi) k(atúškami), “toroidal chamber with magnetic coils”).

Studies of electrodeless discharges in a strong longitudinal magnetic field, carried out on the stellarator and the "Tokamak", have shown that in such systems the plasma becomes unstable for currents appreciably les than the critical current of Shafranov-Kruskal.

1963 November, E. P. Gorbunov, K. A. Razumova, “The Effect of a Strong Magnetic Field on the Magnetohydrodynamic Stability of Plasma and the Containment of Charged Particles in the ‘Tokamak’”, in Soviet Atomic Energy, volume 15, number 5, New York, N.Y.: Consultants Bureau, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1105:

A Tokamak engineering test reactor (TETR) will be an important component of any national or international program to achieve viable Tokamak fusion power reactors.

1975, J. W. Lue, R. W. Conn, “Superconducting Toroidal Field Magnets for a Tokamak Engineering Test Reactor”, in K. D. Timmerhaus, D. H. Weitzel, editors, Advances in Cryogenic Engineering, volume 21, New York, N.Y., London: Plenum Press, →OCLC, page 41; republished Boston, Mass.: Springer, 2013, →DOI, →ISBN, page 41:

Of magnetic fusion experiments, those in Tokamaks are closest to achieving the combination of confinement conditions needed for a reactor.

1982, “Controlled Nuclear Fusion”, in Energy in Transition 1985–2010: Final Report of the Committee on Nuclear and Alternative Energy Systems, National Research Council, Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, →ISBN, page 390:

Researchers use large doughnut-shaped vessels called tokomaks to try to achieve the critical temperature and density needed for fusion to begin. A tokomak uses powerful magnetic fields to contain hydrogen, which is heated to several million degrees. As the strength of the magnetic field increases, it squeezes the plasma, resulting in a higher temperature and density.

1989 September–October, D. Benningfield, “Funds Requested to Speed Up Nuclear Fusion Experiments”, in Ernstine Wheelock, editor, Alcalde, volume 78, number 1, Austin, Tx.: The Ex-Students' Association of the University of Texas, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 43, column 1:

Slowly, the solenoid—all one thousand tons of it—will be carried to the tokamak and lowered into the center of the vacuum chamber.

2014 March 3, Raffi Khatchadourian, “A Star in a Bottle: An Audacious Plan to Create a New Energy Source could Save the Planet from Catastrophe. But Time is Running Out.”, in The New Yorker, archived from the original on 2018-12-05:

(nuclear physics) A torus-shaped chamber used in nuclear fusion research in which a plasma is magnetically confined.

托卡馬克

A torus-shaped chamber in which a plasma is magnetically confined


blue flash

(nuclear physics) A phenomenon sometimes observed when a criticality incident occurs in nuclear materials, inducing a discharge of radiation into the environment.


giant star

(astronomy) A star that has stopped fusing hydrogen in its core and as a result has grown much larger and brighter.


nuclear waste

en-noun

nuclear waste (countable and uncountable, plural nuclear wastes)

The more or less radioactive waste produced by nuclear reactors and others.


fusion bomb

An atomic bomb that uses nuclear fusion as a source of energy; a hydrogen bomb


nuclearism

The advocacy of nuclear weapons and nuclear technology for the maintenance of national security


substellar

a substellar companion

(astronomy, of an object) Having a mass less than the minimum necessary mass for hydrogen fusion


nuclear-thermoelectric rocket

nuclear-thermoelectric rocket (plural nuclear-thermoelectric rockets)

(astronautics) a rocket with a thermal ion engine, whereby the ions are ionized by electricity from a nuclear reactor, and the fluid that is the source of the ions is heated by that nuclear reactor to increase specific impulse.


nuclear-electric rocket

nuclear-electric rocket (plural nuclear-electric rockets)

(astronautics) a rocket with an ion engine powered by a nuclear reactor


Bussard ramjet

From Bussard + ramjet, after Robert W. Bussard.

(astronautics) A fusion rocket that gathers fuel from the interstellar medium through attraction via a magnetic field, functioning akin to a regular ramjet.


nuclear-pulse rocket

nuclear-pulse rocket (plural nuclear-pulse rockets)

(astronautics) a rocket that uses the impulse imparted by the detonation of nuclear bombs as the propulsive force to propel the spacecraft


fission rocket

nuclear-pulse rocket
nuclear-pulse rocket

(astronautics) A nuclear-pulse rocket that uses fission-based atomic bombs to supply propulsive force.


nuclear-thermal rocket

nuclear-thermal rocket (plural nuclear-thermal rockets)

(astronautics) a rocket with a thermal gas exhaust engine, whereby the thermal fluid is heated by the nuclear reactor


nuclear rocket

(astronautics) A rocket where a nuclear process, especially an on-board fission reactor, enables thrust to be produced.


fusion rocket

(astronautics) a rocket engine that uses nuclear fusion reactions for propulsive force

(astronautics) a spacecraft having a fusion reactor that powers the rocket

(astronautics) a nuclear-pulse rocket that uses thermonuclear bombs to supply propulsive force


fusion reactor

(theoretically), a thermonuclear reactor that relies on the controlled fusion of light elements into heavier elements, with the attendant release of enormous amounts of energy. In practice, satisfactory results have not yet been achieved.


diproton

A hypothetical particle consisting of two protons and no neutrons; a helium-2 nucleus. Presumably an intermediate step in the fusion of hydrogen into helium.


sonofusion

Up to now, Purdue has focused on two scientific papers published in 2005 that Dr. Taleyarkhan hailed as independent confirmation of his sonofusion results.

2007 May 11, Kenneth Chang, “Purdue Will Reinvestigate Its Professor Who Claimed Desktop Fusion”, in New York Times:

(physics) A nuclear fusion reaction hypothesized to occur during sonoluminescence.


fusor

Gibor Basri
International Astronomical Union
University of California, Berkeley
fusor (disambiguation)

Coined by Gibor Basri, Professor of Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, at the 2003 IAU conference; presumably fuse + -or.

(astronomy) A celestial body that, through self-gravity, is able to perform nuclear fusion within its core, at any point in its life. These include stars, stellar remnants, and brown dwarfs.

fuusori

celestial body that, through self-gravity, can perform nuclear fusion in its core


fusor

electrostatic inertial confinement fusion#English

(experimental physics, nuclear physics) An electrostatic inertial confinement fusion apparatus. A device that causes nuclear fusion through electrostatic field compression of the fusion fuel.

experimental physics; nuclear physics; experimental physics; nuclear physics


prenuclear

prenuclear pitch


stellarator

From stellar (“star”) + -ator (“maker”).

(physics) A magnetic device used to confine a plasma, especially one used to sustain nuclear fusion


astronuclear

In the late 1950s, he organized the company’s astronuclear laboratory, which won the federal government’s first contract to develop a nuclear reactor for rocket propulsion.

2007 January 17, Dennis Hevesi, “John W. Simpson, 92, Dies; Pioneer of Nuclear Power”, in New York Times:

Of or pertaining to the applications of nuclear physics to space, as for example in nuclear space propulsion.


ramscoop

(science fiction) A proposed space travel technology using enormous electromagnetic fields as a scoop to collect and compress hydrogen and trigger thermonuclear fusion, thus powering the vessel.


spheromak

(physics) A particular form of stabilized magnetic field in which a plasma may be confined for use in nuclear fusion.


pycnonuclear

(nuclear physics) Describing nuclear reactions caused by the density of the reactants


quasifission

(nuclear physics) Partial fusion followed by fission of very large atomic nuclei, a possible means of generating neutron-rich isotopes


atomic energy

The energy released by an atom in a nuclear reaction.


nuclear data

Compilation of experimental and evaluated data describing nuclear properties.

données nucléaires

compilation of experimental and evaluated data describing nuclear properties


Daedalus

From Latin Daedalus, from Ancient Greek Δαίδαλος (Daídalos).

Daedalus
Daedalus (disambiguation)
Project Daedalus

Project Daedalus: a scheme for an interstellar probe that would use fusion rockets.


NTR

Coordinate term: NTP

nuclear-thermal rocket
nuclear-thermal rocket#English

(astronautics) Initialism of nuclear-thermal rocket.


recriticality

recriticality (countable and uncountable, plural recriticalities)

(physics) A return to a point at which a nuclear reaction becomes self-sustaining.


nuclear forensics

The scientific techniques used to investigate nuclear accidents and other incidents


nuclear power station

nuclear power station (plural nuclear power stations)

A power station that obtains its primary energy from the heat generated in nuclear reactions.


nuclear power plant

nuclear power plant (plural nuclear power plants)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-nuclear power plant.wav

A power plant that obtains its primary energy from the heat generated in nuclear reactions.

原子力発電所

げんしりょくはつでんしょ


atompunk

In fact, there was a fair amount of stuff around in the 60s and 70s that can only be explained as cross-dimensional leakage from an Atompunk universe.

2001 October 31, Simon Bradshaw, “Re: Steampunk Recommendations?”, in rec.arts.sf.written (Usenet), message-ID <memo.20011031191447.43761C@sjbradshaw.compulink.co.uk>:

Perfect "atompunk" feel – reactors with nervous engineers and analog controls.

2002 June 10, Mike Simone, “Re: Land Battleships”, in rec.arts.sf.science, rec.games.design (Usenet), message-ID <152bbdf6.0206101038.72e312be@posting.google.com>:

For the Legion, we're looking at 20th century futures rather than 19th. Analogies with steampunk might be "dieselpunk", "atompunk", or "rocketpunk" – but any Legion of Super-Heroes worthy of the name seems to be as far from the "punk" aspect as it's possible to get.

2004 March 6, Michael S. Schiffer, “Re: Earth-2 Legion Synopsis”, in rec.arts.comics.dc.lsh (Usenet), message-ID <Xns94A49BD7E514mss2mediaonenet@130.133.1.4>:

According to a mailing list from the Netherlands, Atompunk is devoted to the cultural period (mostly of the United States) of between 1945 to 1965. While the moniker hasn't become a part of our country's vernacular yet (though I'm sure some of you already started using it ages ago), it sounds just annoyingly catchy enough to warrant a New York Times trend piece in about eight years.

2012 April 8, Elaine Chow, “Space Age Fetishism Getting Silly New Moniker: Atompunk”, in Gizmodo, archived from the original on 2016-08-28:

Atompunk covers the pre-digital period of 1945–1965, including mid-century Modernism, the Atomic Age and Space Age. Throw Roger Thornhill's suits in this basket, and everything ever worn on Mad Men. This takes us right up to the mid '60s, when the fictional worlds of yesterday abut the real worlds you grew up in.

2012, William J. Thompson, “Time Travel”, in Dress Like a Grownup!: A Complete Tutorial for the Average Guy, 2nd edition, volume 1, [Morrisville, N.C.]: Lulu.com, →ISBN, part 2 (Advanced Theory), page 55:

You keep imagining someone 20 years from now reading The Peripheral the way that we read Neuromancer today, perplexed at the now-unfathomable ubiquity of cassettes and modems. We laugh at the past or mine it for influence – think of steampunk, atompunk, dieselpunk, and the million other microgenres based on the incongruity of old societies and future tech – but someday, the future is going to do the same to us.

2014 October 27, Adi Robertson, “William Gibson’s ‘The Peripheral’: Looking Back at the Future: A Smart, Nuanced Twist on Time Travel”, in The Verge, archived from the original on 2017-05-05:

Additionally, while [Sebastian] Faulks aspires to write as [Ian] Fleming, he takes care to increase the serving of action, in fact including some interesting bits of atompunk—a nuclear-powered ekranoplan, Vulcan bombers.

2015, Nader Elhefnawy, The Forgotten James Bond, [s.l.]: [s.n.]:

(science fiction) A subgenre of speculative fiction, based on the society and technology of the Atomic Age (c. 1945–1969).


radiowaste

radiowaste (countable and uncountable, plural radiowastes)


heliac

A stellarator in which the magnetic axis (and plasma) follows a helical path to form a toroidal helix rather than a simple ring shape.


aneutronic

en-adj

aneutronic (comparative more aneutronic, superlative most aneutronic)

more aneutronic (comparative)
most aneutronic (superlative)

(nuclear physics) That does not involve or radiate neutrons


proton capture

(nuclear physics) A nuclear reaction in which a proton is absorbed by a nucleus.


fuel rod

Since it began operating in 1950, Sellafield has had different duties. First it manufactured plutonium for nuclear weapons. Then it generated electricity for the National Grid, until 2003. It also carried out years of fuel reprocessing: extracting uranium and plutonium from nuclear fuel rods after they’d ended their life cycles.

Over the years, the railway has been the safest way to move hazardous chemicals, radioactive waste, fuel for Royal Navy nuclear submarines and imported fuel for reprocessing, as well as flasks containing fuel rods to and from British power stations.

2023 December 27, Ben Jones, “Inside Sellafield... by rail”, in RAIL, number 999, page 21:

A long zirconium tube, filled with pellets of uranium oxide, stacked in bundles inside a nuclear reactor as fuel.


nuplex

The nuplexes, virtually independent of fuel supplies, could be dropped into jungle or tundra.

2009, Spencer R. Weart, Nuclear Fear: A History of Images, page 303:

An industrial complex that operates on nuclear power.


star lifting

(science fiction) A hypothetical process wherein a portion of a star's mass is removed, generally to serve as an energy source.


Chernobyl syndrome

Mistrust of nuclear energy technology as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.


fusion torch

A technique that uses the high-temperature plasma of a fusion reactor to break apart other materials (especially waste materials) and convert them into reusable elements.


thermonuclear bomb

en-noun

thermonuclear bomb (plural thermonuclear bombs)

thermonuclear weapon
thermonuclear weapon#English


barium star

(astronomy) Any of a class of giant stars whose spectra show the presence of s-process elements (such as barium)


antimatter rocket

antimatter rocket (plural antimatter rockets)

A proposed form of rocket that would use antimatter as direct or indirect propellant


torsatron

A stellarator with continuous helical coils, or with a number of discrete coils that produce a similar field.


heliotron

A stellarator in which a helical coil is used to confine the plasma, together with a pair of poloidal field coils to provide a vertical field.


chernobylite

(mineralogy) A technogenic crystalline zirconium silicate containing uranium as a solid solution, discovered in the corium produced by the Chernobyl nuclear accident.


atomic power

synonym of nuclear power (normally sense 1)


nucleogenesis

(physics, astronomy) The formation of nuclei; nucleosynthesis.


Orion drive

en:Orion drive
en:Project Orion (nuclear propulsion)

From Orion + drive, since it originated from Project Orion, a U.S. government study from the 1950s.

(astronautics, science fiction) A theoretical means to propel spacecraft through space, by detonating nuclear bombs behind the spaceship and riding the nuclear explosions that push against the rear mounted pusher plate.


nuclear plasma

(physics) A plasma undergoing nuclear fusion


nuclear meltdown

nuclear meltdown (plural nuclear meltdowns)

A severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating


fissionist

A scientist who works on nuclear fission.


nuclear fuel

For 75 years, it has fulfilled a wide range of roles: producing weapons-grade plutonium for early atomic weapons in the aftermath of the Second World War; the world's first commercial nuclear power station supplying electricity to the National Grid; reprocessing and storage of nuclear fuel; and the processing of lower grades of radioactive waste for off-site storage.

2023 December 27, Ben Jones, “Inside Sellafield... by rail”, in RAIL, number 999, page 20:

A radioactive material, such as uranium, used to power a nuclear reactor.


Z-pinch

Z refers to the direction of the current in the devices, the z-axis on a normal three-dimensional graph.

A kind of plasma confinement system that uses an electrical current in the plasma to generate a magnetic field that compresses it.


theta pinch

(physics) A pinch (magnetic compression of an electrically-conducting filament) where the magnetic field runs down the axis of the cylinder, while the electric field is in the azimuthal direction.


NSWR

(Australia, rail transport) Abbreviation of New South Wales Government Railways.


carbon detonation

carbon detonation (countable and uncountable, plural carbon detonations)

(astronomy, nuclear physics) The explosive ignition of thermonuclear fusion within a carbon-oxygen white dwarf star that occurs when its mass exceeds approximately 1.4 times that of the Sun (due to accretion of material or merger with another star), producing a supernova which completely destroys the star.


nuke plant

nuclear power plant
nuclear power plant#English

(informal) Alternative form of nuclear power plant


magnetic mirror

magnetic mirror (plural magnetic mirrors)

(physics) A magnetic confinement device used in fusion power to trap high-temperature plasma using magnetic fields.


hot fusion

nuclear fusion using the conventional method of very high temperatures; in contrast to cold fusion.


criticality accident

criticality accident (plural criticality accidents)

(nuclear physics) An accidental uncontrolled self-sustaining nuclear fission chain reaction.


frozen star

frozen+star
* (stellar black hole, black hole alternative): From relativity predicting the passage of time slowing to a stop as the star collapses through its event horizon, "freezing" time and the star.
* (Population 0 star): From the existence of frozen volatiles, such as water ice, existing in the atmosphere and on the surface of such a star

sense

(astronomy) A proposed theoretical type of Population 0 star, which could exist in the far future, with a very high metallicity allowing for stars with very low mass, resulting in a nuclear fusion cored star with a surface temperature close to the triple-point of water.


void coefficient

en-noun

void coefficient (plural void coefficients)

Because the Chernobyl reactor had a large positive void coefficient, the reaction accelerated rapidly once the coolant water started to boil.

(nuclear physics, engineering) A coefficient quantifying how the reactivity of a nuclear reactor changes due to the formation of bubbles in the reactor's coolant.


torch drive

(science fiction) A spacecraft engine which produces thrust by nuclear fusion.


torchship

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-torchship.wav

Compound of torch (“a torch drive”) + ship.

com+

(science fiction) A spacecraft propelled by a torch drive (“spacecraft engine which produces thrust by nuclear fusion”).


fission product

en-noun

fission product (plural fission products)


fission fragment

fission fragment (plural fission fragments)

One of the fragments (smaller nuclei) left over after a nucleus fissions (spontaneous or induced).


ITER

(experimental reactor): originally an acronym, now explained as derived from Latin iter (“way, path”).

(nuclear physics) Acronym of International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.


technetium star

technetium star (plural technetium stars)

(astrophysics) A star in which technetium has been detected. This is significant because technetium is too short-lived to occur primordially in the star, if the star is about 4.5 billion years old (the estimated age of the Earth), so the star must be producing technetium.


Przybylski's Star

After astronomer Antoni Przybylski, who discovered it.

A star, about 356 light-years from Earth and in the constellation Centaurus; in which actinides, up to and including at least einsteinium, have been detected.


interstellar ramjet

interstellar ramjet (plural interstellar ramjets)


supergrade

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-supergrade.wav

Of plutonium: containing a very small portion of isotopes other than plutonium-239 (especially plutonium-240) (less than perhaps 3%), making the plutonium especially suitable for nuclear weapons


LENR

LENR (countable and uncountable, plural LENRs)

Acronym for low-energy nuclear reaction(s).

Synonym for cold fusion (nuclear fusion near room temperature).


nuclear radiation

nuclear radiation (countable and uncountable, plural nuclear radiations)


nuclear poison

Something that absorbs neutrons very well, hence sabotaging a nuclear chain reaction


NSG

Nuclear Suppliers Group
w:Nuclear Suppliers Group

Initialism of Nuclear Suppliers Group, an international organization.


deuterium bottleneck

(cosmology) A critical stage in the early universe's nucleosynthesis process, in which the temperature was high enough for many photons to have energy greater than the binding energy of deuterium; therefore any deuterium that was formed was immediately destroyed.


atomgrad

/ˈætəmˌɡɹæd/

Borrowed from Russian атомгра́д (atomgrád), from а́том (átom, “atom”) + град (grad, “city”).

bor+

(Soviet Union, historical) A planned city built to facilitate the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant or other nuclear facility in the Soviet Union.


nuclear submarine

en-noun

nuclear submarine (plural nuclear submarines)

A submarine powered by a nuclear reactor.


confinement time

confinement time (countable and uncountable, plural confinement times)

autoignition temperature
autoignition temperature

(nuclear physics) The amount of time the plasma is maintained at a temperature above the critical autoignition temperature; in this case the temperature needed to start a fusion.


Wigner effect

Named after Eugene Wigner who discovered the effect.

(physics) The displacement of atoms in a solid caused by neutron radiation.


thermonuclear war

thermonuclear war (countable and uncountable, plural thermonuclear wars)

A nuclear war, assuming at least some of the bombs are thermonuclear.