Nuclear reactions release energy from atomic nucleus bonds. Fusion combines atomic nuclei for lighter elements, while fission splits heavier ones. Nuclear energy is difficult to harness due to purification and temperature requirements. Fusion requires high energy and containment. Fission has radioactive byproducts and safety concerns, but advances have made reactors safer. The US government is supporting nuclear reactor construction again.
Fission and fusion are different types of nuclear reactions in which energy is released from high-power bonds between particles in the atomic nucleus. The atomic nucleus is more stable when the bond energies between the particles are stronger. This occurs with iron and nickel. For the lightest atomic nuclei, energy can be extracted by combining these nuclei together, a process known as nuclear fusion. For nuclei heavier than iron or nickel, energy can be extracted by splitting them in a process called nuclear fission.
Because the binding force in the atomic nucleus contains enormous energy, nuclear reactions can deliver tons of energy, in principle. However, practical considerations make harnessing nuclear energy more difficult than something as simple as starting a fire. Highly purified raw materials, usually isotopes of uranium or plutonium, must be used for fission. Isotopes are preferred because their instability makes them easier to break. Purification of these isotopes is extremely expensive and requires multi-million dollar centrifuges.
In fusion, an extremely high threshold energy must be reached to combine atomic nuclei and the required temperature is in the order of millions of degrees. In nature, the only place this occurs is in the core of a star. Superheated plasma and laser power focusing are two methods of achieving this threshold energy. Because the matter serving as the fusion medium must be so hot, it must be isolated from the surrounding matter using powerful magnetic fields or inertial containment, which is the principle behind the Tokamak reactor. However, fusion requires so much energy that no one has yet built a reactor that produces more than it consumes.
Disadvantages of fission energy include both radioactive byproducts and its association with nuclear weapons and meltdowns. Over the last decade or so, nuclear physicists have developed safer ways to build reactors, including ways to recycle radioactive byproducts. These advances have caused the US government to start supporting the construction of nuclear reactors again.
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