Fission reactor

Nuclear fission based power sources work in two ways, one, the heat generated by splitting atoms is used to turn water into steam which moves an electrical power generation turbine. Two, the radiation and heat created by the splitting of atoms in a more efficient way is refined into usuable energy for space vessels and stations, a less controlled but still stable fission reaction, similar to what occurs in a fission bomb.

Efficient fission requires the use of large, unstable nuclei like those of uranium or plutonium. To fission the matter of a cupcake for example, you would expend more energy then produced by the fission. Fission is considered quite a primitve and laughable form of power generation by most space fairing species, with a few exceptions such as rubium or dalerite fission, both of which are stable large atomic nuclei that rely on the fifth force to exist. Through the use of a exotic particle beam the fifth force field that surrounds the atom can be disrupted and the may be efficiently split.