Spontaneous fission

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Spontaneous fission (SF) is a form of radioactive decay in which a heavy atomic nucleus splits into two or more lighter nuclei. In contrast to induced fission, there is no inciting particle to trigger the decay; it is a purely probabilistic process. Spontaneous fission is a dominant decay mode for superheavy elements, with nuclear stability generally falling as nuclear mass increases. It thus forms a practical limit to heavy element nucleon number. Heavier nuclides may be created instantaneously by physical processes, both natural (via the r-process) and artificial, though rapidly decay to more stable nuclides. As such, apart from minor decay branches in primordial radionuclides, spontaneous fission is not observed in nature. Observed fission half-lives range from 60 nanoseconds (252104Rf) to greater than the current age of the universe (23290Th).

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