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In nuclear fusion, you get
energy when two atoms join together to form one. In a fusion
reactor, hydrogen atoms come together to form helium atoms,
neutrons and vast amounts of energy. It's the same type of
reaction that powers hydrogen bombs and the sun. This would be a
cleaner, safer, more efficient and more abundant source of power
than nuclear fission.
There are several types of fusion reactions. Most involve the
isotopes of hydrogen called deuterium and tritium:
Cold Fusion
In 1989, researchers in the United States
and Great Britain claimed to have made a fusion reactor at room
temperature without confining high-temperature plasmas. They made
an electrode of palladium, placed it in a thermos of heavy water
(deuterium oxide) and passed an electrical current through the
water. They claimed that the palladium catalyzed fusion by
allowing deuterium atoms to get close enough for fusion to occur.
However, several scientists in many countries failed to get the
same result.
But in April 2005, cold fusion got a major boost.
Scientists at UCLA initiated fusion using a pyroelectric crystal.
They put the crystal into a small container filled with hydrogen,
warmed the crystal to produce an electric field and inserted a
metal wire into the container to focus the charge. The focused
electric field powerfully repelled the positively charged hydrogen
nuclei, and in the rush away from the wire, the nuclei smashed
into eachother with enough force to fuse. The reaction took place
at room temperature. See Coming in out of the cold: Cold fusion,
for real (csmonitor.com) to learn more.
from-http://science.howstuffworks.com/fusion-reactor6.htm |