so nuclear reactors generate power by splitting atoms but what actually splits these atoms?
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Atomic nuclei consist of roughly the same number of neutrons (no electrical charge) and protons (one positive charge) glued together by the strong force – which has to overcome the repulsion between protons as identical charges repel each other and want to fly away.
If there are lots of protons as in heavy elements like uranium, plutonium, thorium, &c., that “gluing” can become strained and the nucleus unstable. This is radioactivity, the kernel splits and the element decays into two lighter kernels (to simplify; there are other possible processes), i. e. different elements. Uranium, for example, can split into Krypton and Barium.
So the splitting, radioactivity, is a natural property of matter.
In a nuclear reactor things are arranged in such a way that these spontaneous splits get amplified (but not too much or you’d have an A-bomb!): the fission also emits neutrons which, being neutral, can go hit other nuclei and trigger another split in a nearby unstable nucleus. And you have a chain reaction.
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