Nuclear Fusion - Planet's Hope

Imagine if we could replace fossil fuels with our very own stars : recent research in nuclear fusion is helping us get there. The experimental advanced superconducting fusion reactor in China can reach temperatures over six times hotter than the Sun. . Fusion occurs when two lightweight atoms combine into a single larger one, releasing energy. But those two atoms share a positive charge and positive atoms repel each other. However, Stars like our Sun have a great way of overcoming this repulsion - size! The sun's vast size creates a tremendous amount of pressure in its core, so that the atoms there are forced closer together making them more likely to collide. But we don't have the technology to recreate that kind of pressure on earth. However, you can also generate fusion with extreme temperatures; the ideal temperature to generate fusion is around one million degrees Celsius. That's more than six times hotter than our Sun's core! Only a few fusion experiments in the world have surpassed this milestone, and the latest one was at the 'East' reactor in China. It sustained nuclear fusion for about ten seconds before shutting down. This used an immense amount of power; but it is just an experiment designed to test the viability of large plants like 'Iter" - international thermonuclear experimental reactor’ - which could potentially run on a renewable and plentiful energy source, sea water - with huge and positive implications for the planet.