Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Nuclear fusion may be the answer to the world’s energy challenges—if scientists can figure out how to sustain this nuclear reaction on Earth.
A nuclear fusion reaction is very different from a nuclear fission reaction, which has been the mechanism used in nuclear power plants to produce energy since the 1950s.
Fission involves splitting the nuclei of very heavy elements, such as uranium and plutonium. This starts a chain reaction that is difficult to slow, which is one of the reasons it can be dangerous.
Nuclear fusion, on the other hand, uses some of the lightest elements, such as hydrogen, to generate energy—and is a reaction that is very difficult to spur and maintain.