Thread by @MesMitch

A lightbulb moment for nuclear fusion?
Nuclear fusion is the merging of atoms. Every atom contains a very dense central blob called the nucleus, made up of particles called protons and neutrons. Atoms of different chemical elements have nuclei with different numbers of protons.

If 2nuclei collide at high enogh energy, they can amalgamate 2form a different, heavier element. It requires high temperatures and densities: inside the sun, temperatures of 10m C or so enable hydrogen atoms 2fuse in2 helium.This process releases energy,which makes the sun shine

Today’s nuclear power plants use not fusion but nuclear fission: the splitting apart of heavy nuclei. This happens spontaneously for radioactive elements such as uranium, and it too releases energy.

But both the fuel and the products may remain highly radioactive for very long times – hundreds of thousands of years – creating health hazards and waste-disposal problems.What’s more, the fission process, which involves chain reactions that induce fission,

can be hard to control and shut down, as the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters, in Ukraine and Japan, showed. Fusion is “nuclear power done right” – potentially much cleaner, safer and more efficient. “It seems too good to be true – high power density, low and manageable waste

production, and no possibility of uncontrolled energy release. The idea of having a nuclear reactor on the edge of town might sound alarming. But that’s largely because we have become familiar with the dangers of fission – the radioactive waste and the spectra of Chernobyl-style

meltdowns. Fusion is different: there’s no real risk of it getting out of control, and much less radiation hazard.“I’m convinced that not only is fusion important: it’s going to happen.” We’re not on the verge, but it’s just about in sight.