Fusion of the Day

Without going into much detail, nuclear fission involves bombarding radioactive atoms with neutrons to split the atoms, whereas fusion combines non-radioactive atoms together. Either way, energy is created. Currently, the amount of electricity that is fed into a fusion reactor is larger than the amount the reactor can produce, and until more energy is created than is put into the reaction, it is not a viable source of energy. Since fission requires radioactive material, there is potential for radioactive problems. In a meltdown, the radioactive material (which is extremely hot) melts through its containment vessel, through the floor, and into the ground. Along the way it contaminates everything it touches. When it hits water, it instantly turns into steam and explosively rushes back through the hole, carrying lots of new radioactive debris. Obviously, if this reaches the outside air, it will get carried away to contaminate cities, water supplies, etc. Fusion material is not radioactive, so if there is an accident, there is little danger to the public. Fission is nice because there is no pollution emitted by the power plant (though nuclear waste is a byproduct that has to be stored somewhere). Fusion does not pollute, nor is radioactive waste created. The process is clean, and the materials for it are abundant, so there is motivation to try to make it work (if they get more electricity out than they put in).

The fusion reaction take place in a plasma. No, not the kind of plasma medics use. This plasma is superheated gas that actually loses its electrons and becomes positively charged. That's OK, since the reaction we want is between the nuclei anyway, as Hydrogen istopes combine to create Helium nuclei. Also, the plasma is moving with very high speed and since it is electrically charged AND moving, it can be effected and controlled by very strong magnetic fields. This is how the "superheated materials" are contained.

As noted above by AC, to date it has taken more energy to superheat the deuterium and tritium (unstable isotopes of hydrogen found naturally in water) fuel and to magnetically control it than the reaction has yielded. The hope is to create a higher energy yield reaction, so that the energy of reaction itself can be used for heating and control, with a surplus available for power distribution.

The obvious advantages are that deuterium and tritium are relatively abundant, unlike Uranium which is relatively rare, the products are not radioactive, and an uncontrolled chain reaction (melt-down) is very, very, unlikely, if not impossible. A fusion explosion (Hydrogen Bomb) was only possible when a fission explosion (Uranium based "Atomic Bomb") created a high enough temperature and pressure to implode the hydrogen isotopes, creating the uncontrolled fusion reaction.

In a fission reactor, damping rods inserted between the fuel rods slows down the reaction, keeping temperatures to a controllable level, but producing enough heat to create steam which impels the turbines to turn the generators to create electricity....whew! Theoretically, a fission "pile" could "go critical" and explode, but practically it would melt down first, lose containment, and therefore critical mass. However, that would create the "China Syndrome" as described above by AC.

A fusion reactor is by its nature safer, because if control was lost, the plasma stream would simply give up its energy to its immediate environment and revert to superheated gas, which definitely could cause some damage to the surrounding facilities, but would not spread beyond a local area, and definitely would not create hazardous radioactive contamination of the greater environment as in a fission reaction meltdown.

Disclaimer: I am not a nuclear engineer or physicist, so please correct me if I made any errors. Thanks!

The only problem that we have with the reation is sustaning it. This should ease your fears of the China Syndrome. We add tons of energy and we get a little bit of energy back. This still hold promise.

Thanks for your answers after I read the original article I was curious .It seems a little illogical super heating material can produce more energy but why not I suppose the idea of splitting atoms was hard to grasp .I always wondered why the chain reaction would be controlled and not run away .Good luck to who ever is giving it a try .

We sometime try real hard to make thing to difficult for people to understand. It is not that hard. Energy and matter are directly related to each other. It takes energy to put tham together and it gives off energy to take them apart.

thanks George thats a real easy way to understand it

In many reactions, energy is released when elements combine, C+O = CO + heat, this can further combine, CO+O = CO₂+heat.