Which is the process used to harness nuclear energy these days? Explain it briefly.

The process which is used to harness the nuclear energy these days is Nuclear fission reaction where the nucleus of heavy atoms is bombarded with the low energy neutrons and can be split it into lighter nuclei. A huge amount of energy is produced during nuclear fission reaction. It produces 10 million times the energy produced during the combustion of carbon from coal. The energy released during the nuclear fission reaction produces steam and therefore, helps in generating electricity.

In nuclear fission reaction, the difference in mass m, between the original nucleus and the nuclei which is obtained as a product is converted to energy E at a rate which is given by the equation:

E =mc²

Where, c is the speed of light in vacuum.