Basically the title explains my question. Apparently the nuclear force holding the protons together in the nucleus is very strong but there must also be some repulsion as a result of the protons having the same (positive) charge. Does the nuclear force render the electrostatic repulsion practically meaningless or does it play some role? Maybe it only emerges during the fission process or when atoms get polarized magnetically? Maybe it regulates fusion in some way?

I asked similar question before.

Let's take a look this cite.

http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/53403-which-state-is-the-proton-and-neutron-in-the-deuterium/

There is no need to hypothesize about magnetically polarized nuclei as a requirement for fission.

 

http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/36625-splitting-the-atom/page__view__findpost__p__463666