Overview

Nuclear safety in Spain relates mainly to the production of electricity.

Atoms are the smallest particles into which a chemical element can be divided while maintaining its properties. There are two types of particles within each atom (neutrons and protons) which are kept bound together.

Nuclear energy is the one contained in the core of an atom that keeps neutrons and protons together and that can be used to produce electricity.

But the energy must be first released, in one or two ways – nuclear fusion or nuclear fission. In nuclear fusion, energy is released when atoms combine or fuse together to form a larger atom. This is how the Sun produces energy. In nuclear fission, atoms are separated into smaller ones, released energy.

Nuclear power plants use nuclear fission to produce electricity.