FREE ESSAY ON FUSION

FUSION

Energy From Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear Fusion is the energy-producing process which takes place continuously in the sun
and stars. In the core of the sun at temperatures of 10-15 million degrees Celsius,
Hydrogen is
converted to Helium providing enough energy for us to sustain life on earth. 
For energy production on earth, different fusion reactions are involved. The most
suitable reaction
occurs between the nuclei of the two light forms (isotopes) of Hydrogen - Deuterium and
Tritium; eventually reactions involving just Deuterium or Deuterium and Helium may be
used.
A brief breakdown of the fuels used are as follows, Deuterium is a very abundant isotope
of hydrogen and can be extracted from all forms of water, Tritium is not as abundant and
is not a
natural isotope, instead a machine is needed to extract it from lithium. Lithium, which
is the
lightest of all metals is plentiful on the earths crust, there is so much on the crust
that right now
they say there is enough to provide the planet with over a thousand years of
electricity.
Fusion power offers the potential of an almost limitless source of energy for future
generations but it also presents some formidable scientific and engineering challenges.
It is called
'fusion' because it is based on fusing light nuclei such as hydrogen isotopes to release
energy.
Effective energy-producing fusions require that gas from a combination of isotopes of
hydrogen -
deuterium and tritium - is heated to very high temperatures (100 million degrees
centigrade) and
confined for at least one second. One way to achieve these conditions is to use magnetic
confinement.
The Colliding Beam Fusion Reactor is a magnetic confinement system that avoids the
typical anomalous transport (refers to all processes in which loss of particles or energy
takes place
- it is due to a variety of instabilities that lead to turbulence). The reactor is
compact with good
accessibility and low maintenance costs. Most of the technologies needed to evaluate this
concept
exist, or could become available with simple engineering modifications to existing
technologies. 
Some of the advantages of using fusion as a source of energy are, that the fuels are
plentiful, and will last for years, very safe to people because any malfunction results
in immediate
shutdown, also, there is no atmospheric pollution which can lead to harmful things such
as acid
rain or the greenhouse effect, and finally there is no need for disposal of materials.
An example of just how much power this procedure produces is that, with 10 grams of
Deuterium, which can be extracted from 500 liters of water, and 15g of Tritium, produced
from
30g of Lithium would produce enough fuel for the lifetime electricity needs of an average
person
in an industrialized country. 
In closing I would like to add my personal opinion about nuclear fusion, I feel that it
is an
excellent source of energy for our planet to have, and although it is not available for
home use as
of yet, you can expect to have this great power source in your home within the next 25
years.
Bibliography
encarta 96, fusion