Materials For Nuclear Fusion

Nuclear fusion has long been heralded as a safe, efficient, low-carbon source of energy, which uses starting materials which are abundant on Earth. In nuclear fusion, light nuclei are fused to form a heavier nucleus, releasing energy - in the same reaction as is used to power the Sun.

On Earth, one way to perform nuclear fusion is in a doughnut-shaped vacuum chamber known as a "tokamak", where powerful magnets are used to contain a hot plasma containing hydrogen isotopes (deuterium and tritium). When the plasma is heated, the nuclei fuse together to form helium and a neutron and release energy in the process. The released energy can be used to heat water and power turbines to generate electricity.