Central core of an atom (7)
I believe the answer is:
nucleus
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">central core of an atom</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(I've seen this before)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is the entire clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for nucleus that I've seen before include "Atomic core" , "central component" , "Central mass of a cell" , "Tiny factor" , "Central part of thing - ask us, uncle" .)