Fission Facts

Fission Facts

Nuclear energy: myths busted, news decoded, every fact linked.

Watch on TikTok @fissionfacts Follow on X @FactsOfFission

What we post.

Short, friendly explainers about how nuclear energy actually works, one theme per weekday.

  • MonIndustry news, decoded
  • TueMyth vs. fact
  • WedNuclear 101
  • ThuRadiation in real life
  • FriCareers & the human side

A few facts, with receipts.

This is how everything here works: the claim, then the link to where it comes from.

Radiation in real life

Americans get an average of about 620 millirem of radiation a year. About half is natural background, mostly radon in the air.

Source: NRC, Doses in Our Daily Lives

Myth vs. fact

A cooling tower is a heat exchanger. It moves exhaust heat from a power plant's turbine steam into the air instead of into a body of water.

Source: NRC glossary, Cooling tower

Nuclear 101

US nuclear plants ran at full power more than 92% of the time in 2024, the highest capacity factor of any energy source.

Source: DOE, What is Generation Capacity?

Careers

There are about 3,600 active NRC-licensed power reactor operators in the United States.

Source: NRC, Operator Licensing

More of what we cite is on the Sources page.