Category: Nuclear energy

One gram of uranium-235 undergoing complete fission can theoretically release an enormous amount of energy—approximately 20 billion 'physics' calories. However, confusing this with the dietary calories our bodies use is a dangerous misconception that ignores the fundamental differences between nuclear and chemical energy.

While chemically similar to normal water ($H_2O$), heavy water ($D_2O$) has significantly different biological effects on living organisms, and is not recommended for drinking. The human body naturally contains a small, harmless amount of heavy water, with about one in every 20 million water molecules containing deuterium instead of regular hydrogen. However, consuming high concentrations of heavy water can disrupt essential cellular processes, leading to toxicity.

Despite the dangerous viral memes suggesting an absurdly high energy content, the truth is that plutonium, a highly toxic and radioactive heavy metal, contains zero dietary calories for human consumption. The energy it possesses is nuclear, not nutritional, and attempting to 'consume' it would be a catastrophic health hazard.