Nuclear Fusion
"Through the release of atomic energy, our generation has brought into the world the most revolutionary force since prehistoric man's discovery of fire."
-Albert Einstein
| Fusion Quick Links
Fusion is Easy! -- Introduction to Amateur Fusion and the Farnsworth Fusor What it takes -- So you want to build a fusion reactor? Doing and Measuring Fusion in a fusor Have Fusor Questions? ASK THEM!
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Overview Nuclear fusion is the process of joining light atoms together to form a heavier atom, releasing huge amounts of energy. All stars, like the sun, are powered by fusion reactions in their cores. Like a burning fire, the heat produced in these reactions is enough to keep the gas temperature high enough to allow the fusion to be self-sustaining. On Earth, we have yet to produce a self-sustaining fusion reaction as one would find in the stars. Our current methods have proven too inefficient , and require huge amounts of continuous input energy in order to keep the reaction going. One day, we may stumble upon the secret of fusion power, but for now, we are continuing to study schemes that were introduced 50 years ago, which may or may not work. People love to make a big deal about how fusion is some magical process that can only be done in 200 million dollar laboratories. I love to make a big deal about how fusion really is not a big deal. It is almost a trivial task to push atoms together and do fusion reactions; you can do it in your basement.
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