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Nuclear fusion
happens when atoms fuse together at extremely high temperatures to
generate energy, and this reaction has the potential to produce an
almost unlimited supply of energy from very little. This is the process
that has fuelled our sun for billions of years, and is unfortunately
very difficult for scientists to achieve. We keep trying, however,
because it doesn’t produce any radioactive waste, unlike modern day
nuclear power plants (which are powered by nuclear fission rather
than fusion.)
In a remarkable breakthrough, however,
scientists in Germany have recently announced that one of the world’s
largest nuclear fusion machines has been successful for the first time.
Hans-Stephan Bosch and his team at the Max Planck Institute were able to
produce a “loose cloud” consisting of charged particles known as
“helium place.” They did this through a stellarator called the 7-x,
which is a device used to confine hot plasma with magnetic fields in
order to produce a nuclear fusion reaction. The 7-x is considered to be
the largest and most well-bred stellarator on the planet. (source)(source)(source)
Basically, the key to nuclear fusion is
to control a portion of extremely hot/heated matter (plasma); if done
successfully, electrons are separated from their atoms, resulting in the
formation of ions. Ions usually bounce off each other, but the process
of nuclear fusion places them under conditions which result in them
fusing together, which in turn generates energy. This energy output is
known as nuclear fusion.
Being able to harness this type of
energy would change the world. Nuclear fusion represents a near
perpetual source of energy that would wipe out our currently outdated
and wasteful methods of producing energy.
