With the unsettled situation in the Middle East, record setting storms in the Gulf of Mexico, and a national energy crisis that has been visible especially in California, new clean inexpensive sources of power are paramount. There is a unified effort underway to solve this problem by “harnessing the power of the Sun” – Nuclear Fusion. Nuclear fusion is the process where two light nuclei are forced together combining to make a heavier nucleus. As with the fission reaction there is a loss of mass which gives off energy. On the Sun, most of these reactions occur in the interior where temperatures are approximately 1.5 X 107 K. The amount of energy release in a thermonuclear fusion reaction is 25 MeV – a lot!! Unlike the Nuclear Fission Reaction, the by products or "Nuclear Waste" of Nuclear Fusion is substantially less.
The international community is working diligently to contain these reactions in a reactor to produce a new energy source. The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor program appears at this time to be the closest to success. Once based here in the United States the program has move overseas due to lack of funding by the Clinton Administration. Hopefully, we will see this reactor built in our lifetimes!
For More Information on Nuclear Fusion:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nucene/fusion.html
http://www.ipp.mpg.de/~Wolfgang.Suttrop/ppcfsites.html
