An enhanced version is presented of the face-centered-cubic (fcc) lattice model—originally developed by Norman Cook—for the analysis of the structure of atomic nuclei. A survey of the main theoretical models of the nuclear structure, such as the independent particle model (IPM) and the liquid drop model (LDM), is provided. A brief description is given for each of these models, highlighting how they are able or fail in explaining the available evidence on nuclear phenomena, such as the mean free path of nucleons within the nucleus, the nuclear size, shape, and skin, the nature of the nuclear force, the occurrence of asymmetric nuclear fission, and the so-called low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR). Then, we explore in more detail the Cook’s solid lattice model. Starting from the basic assumptions and features of this model, which are associated to the shell levels of the IPM, we see how the nucleus can be geometrically defined by filling the sites of an fcc lattice with alternating isospin layers of protons and neutrons. The predictions arising from this lattice model are compared to the available experimental evidence, as shown in the original Cook’s work. Eventually, we report the development of an enhanced version of this model, developed within an in-house Matlab code ( https://github.com/domenicoscaramozzino/FCC_nuclear_structure ) with the main purpose of studying nuclear fission. We describe how the randomization of the nuclear structure, coupled with an energy-based statistical analysis of the fission fragments, leads to a simple evaluation of the fission results. It is also discussed how to take into account decaying phenomena in order to consider the stability of the fission fragments.