The Atom Bomb
An atom bomb is better known as a fission bomb because it works by fission. The bomb contains a hollow sphere of pure uranium(235) or plutonium(239). The sphere is too big to initiate a chain reaction because neutrons that make the chain reaction in the bomb escape threw the surface of the sphere without causing fission. An explosive around the core is set of so the nuetrons can't escape.
To detonate the bomb, a source of neutrons is shot by the detonator into the center of the sphere. Explosives then crush the sphere around the neutron source. The neutrons cannot now escape. A chain reaction occurs and fission flashes through the uranium or plutonium in a fraction of a second. The bomb explodes with a power equal to thousands of tons (kilotonic) of TNT. Intence radation is also produced. 1 baseball size of plutonium is equal to 20 kilotonic explosion.
Hydrogen Bomb
The hydrogen bomb or H-Bomb is a thermonuclear weapon which works partly by nuclear fusion. Two forms of hydrogen (deuterium and tritium) are compressed at very high temperature to produce instant fusion. These conditions of Ultra-high tempurature and pressure can only be created by a fission bomb, which is used to trigger fussion in a thermonuclear weapon. Explosives crush all the nuclear materials around a neutron source to detonate the bomb.
Some thermonuclear weapons also contain a jacket of pure uranium(235), which produces a blast equal to millions of tons (megatons) of TNT. The neutron bomb, on the other hand, is a fusion weapon of relatively low power that produces penetrating nuetrons. The neutrons released by the bomb would kill people while most building would survive the weak blast. Litium(7) is also used in fussion bombs, this particular element with 4 neutrons(mass of 7) to it is very hard to get without permission by gov. agencies or some kinda permit.
Nuclear Reactor
The heart of a nuclear power station is it's nuclear reactor. Here immense heat is generated by the fission of uranium dioxide. The heat is transferred from the reactor to a steam generator, where it boils water to steam. The steam then turns a hugh turbined which also turns a generator.