Fusion is the end-goal of terrestrial energy generation on Earth. By fusing together plasma of two light nuclei (in this example, two atoms of the hydrogen isotope deuterium), the strong nuclear force ...
But the fusion reactors on Earth use deuterium and tritium, an unstable isotope of hydrogen that has two neutrons. Tritium has a half-life of around 12 years, and thus while it's stable enough to ...
This isotope of hydrogen is called deuterium, and heavy water's more scientific name is deuterium oxide, abbreviated as D 2 0. Nuclear power plants harness the energy of countless atoms of uranium ...
Plans call for first-generation fusion reactors to use a mixture of deuterium and tritium — heavy types of hydrogen. In theory, with just a few grams of these reactants, it is possible to produce a ...