It is possible to recreate fusion on Earth and there have been many steps to ensure that it is a distinct possibility for the future. Using a huge machine in South France called ITER, fusion can occur at temperatures over 100 million degrees . Just like in the sun, isotopes of hydrogen, Deuterium and Tritium with 1 and 2 neutrons respectively collide to form a helium particle and a neutron (figure 2) which releases large amounts of energy. 17.6 MeV of energy is released in the fusion reaction and “they take the form of kinetic energy, the helium having 3.5 MeV and the neutron 14.1 MeV.” Fusion reactions on earth produce very different amounts of energy than fission. Fission creates roughly 200MeV per reaction whilst fusion only creates 17.6MeV …show more content…
The rate at which humans consume energy at the moment is able to be matched by the amount of oil and other fossil fuels being produced but this may not continue. In fact 80% of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels (figure 3) . Solar and wind energy require certain weather conditions to work and may not be as reliable as nuclear fusion. One major negative of fossil fuels is the release of carbon into the atmosphere cause global warming. Fusion does not involve any carbon and therefore doesn’t pollute the Earth. The two ingredients needed for fusion Deuterium and Tritium are easily found on Earth. Tritium can be found in lithium, which can be found in the crust of the Earth or in sea water. Deuterium is also found in water, one out of every 6,500 atoms of hydrogen is deuterium . In fact, the energy given off by fusion from 4L of water is the same as over 1000L of petrol . As well as this, 60 kilograms of fusion fuel can provide the amount of energy as 400 000 tonnes of coal and would be enough to supply a city of 1 million people. Because these two isotopes are so readily available, they will last for millions of years into the future. The nuclear power as we know it is fission energy, however this is much more dangerous than fusion to the environment. Radioactive waste from fission have half-lives ranging from several thousand to several million years whilst radioactive waste from fusion can be disposed within 100 years . Recently, a meltdown caused by a tsunami in Fukushima, Japan in a nuclear fission power plant released radioactive material and caused an evacuation of 300 000 people from the nearby area . However because there is so little fuel used in fusion there is no chance of such a large nuclear