From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfissionfis‧sion /ˈfɪʃən/ noun [uncountable] technical 1 HPTBthe process of splitting an atom to produce large amounts of energy or an explosion → fusion2 HBthe process of dividing a cell into two or more parts
Examples from the Corpus
fission• They get electrical power from fission rods, and then they throw the fission rods into the briny sea.• Start to phase out nuclear fission power stations, which are prohibitively expensive and potentially hazardous.• In the mid-1950's nuclear fission had still to be turned into a commercial power source.• Both radioactive fission products and induced radioactivity in structural materials contribute to the problem of radioactive waste.• The isotope U-235 is unstable, decaying by a process called spontaneous fission.• Controlled fusion has fewer obvious negative aspects than fission.• Some of the fission fragments are themselves radioactive.Origin fission (1600-1700) Latin fissus, past participle of findere “to split” 