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| | A reaction that, once initiated, sustains itself and expands. This is a
reaction in which reactive species, such as radicals, are produced in more than
one step. These reactive species, radicals, propagate the chain reaction.
- A reaction that initiates its own repetition. In a fission chain reaction,
a fissionable nucleus absorbs a neutron and fissions spontaneously, releasing
additional neutrons. These, in turn, can be absorbed by other fissionable
nuclei, releasing still more neutrons. A fission chain reaction is
self-sustaining when the number of neutrons released in a given time equals or
exceeds the number of neutrons lost by absorption in nonfissionable material
or by escape from the system.
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