Plasma is a gas heated to such an extreme temperature that its atoms fuse, releasing vast amounts of energy.
The reactor uses electrical current and heat to create a hot, charged state called a plasma, which is encased by powerful magnets so that parts of the atoms can collide and fuse, releasing massive quantities of energy in the process.
The temperature and pressure of the plasma is the key to fusion; once it's hot enough, the positively charged nuclei will collide to fuse, releasing gloriously large amounts of energy.
As the plasma is heated and compressed, some of the hydrogen nuclei fuse, releasing energy in the form of helium nuclei (alpha particles) and neutrons.
Taleyarkhan, a Purdue nuclear engineering professor, pioneered the controversial notion that sound waves can collapse bubbles in a manner that causes atoms to fuse, releasing energy in the process (ScienceNOW, 4 March 2002).
Fusion energy seeks to replicate the power source of the sun and stars: heating atoms to enormous temperatures so that their nuclei slam together with enough force to overcome their mutual repulsion and fuse, releasing energy.
But the birthday party was marked by growing debate over the future of the landmark machine, which uses powerful magnetic fields to contain a plasma of hydrogen isotopes so that they will fuse, releasing energy a similar reaction to the one which powers the sun.
A recent report concludes that although the $3.5 billion National Ignition Facility NIF a Department of Energyy (DOE) laser lab designed to heat and compress capsules of hydrogen isotopes until they fuse, releasing energy is making technical progress, it is still a long way from its titular goal: ignition, or a fusion burn that sustains itself and produces more energy than it takes to spark it.
In that confined space, the repulsive forces between nuclei might be overcome and they would fuse, releasing energy.
Fusion (H-Bombs), using the incredible heat of a fission bomb 'spark plug', compress and heat deuterium and tritium (isotopes of hydrogen) which fuse, releasing immense amounts of energy.
