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• #Nuclear fusion vs fission series

The Joint European Torus (JET) is a pioneer of the latter. In California, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is developing the use of high-powered lasers to compress fusion fuel into a tiny space, while researchers in other parts of the world favor confinement via strong magnetic fields. In the core of the sun, atoms combine at approximately 10 million degrees Celsius on Earth, where gravitational forces are far, far smaller, at least 10 times as much heat is required.Īs no known material can withstand contact with such scorching temperatures, scientists have devised different methods of confining super-hot plasma-a cloud of charged particles in which fusion occurs-to allow for continuous energy output. With the funding taps open, significant progress has recently been made to overcome a litany of scientific challenges-not least the enormous temperatures required to trigger a fusion reaction. From a safety standpoint, nuclear meltdown is practically impossible, and only a small volume of relatively short-lived radioactive waste is produced.įusion’s incredible promise is being pursued by a consortium of global physicists supported by China, Russia, the United States, and several European governments.

When this happens, an immense amount of energy is released: four times as much as fission, and nearly 4 million times greater than the burning of fossil fuels. Whereas nuclear fission-the process that drives conventional nuclear power plants-involves the splitting of atoms, fusion takes place when a pair of light atomic nuclei combine to form a single heavier one.

#Nuclear fusion vs fission series

With sweeping international collaboration and billions of dollars of public and private investment, scientists have recently made a series of meaningful advances in both the duration and power output possible from fusion reactions.