Nuclear Fusion (Edexcel IGCSE Physics)

Nuclear fusion

• Small nuclei can react to release energy in a process called nuclear fusion

• Nuclear fusion is defined as:

  When two light nuclei join to form a heavier nucleus

• This process requires extremely high temperatures to maintain

  • This is why nuclear fusion has proven very hard to reproduce on Earth

• Stars, including the Sun, use nuclear fusion to produce energy

  • Therefore, fusion reactions are very important to life on Earth

• In most stars, hydrogen atoms are fused together to form helium and produce lots of energy

Two hydrogen nuclei are fusing to form a helium nuclei

• The energy produced during nuclear fusion comes from a very small amount of the particle’s mass being converted into energy

• The amount of energy released during nuclear fusion is huge

  • The energy from 1 kg of hydrogen that undergoes fusion is equivalent to the energy from burning about 10 million kilograms of coal

Differences between fusion and fission

• The following table summarises some of the key differences between fusion and fission:

Comparison of fusion and fission table

• Nuclear fission reactors are an increasingly common method of electricity generation on Earth

• Nuclear fusion reactors are not yet a commercially viable method for generating electricity, but they are in development

• In the future, fusion reactors are likely to have several advantages over fission reactors

Advantages of fusion reactors 

• Nuclear fusion reactions are capable of generating more energy than fission reactions (per kilogram of fuel)

• The nuclear fuel required for fusion (isotopes of hydrogen found in water) is more abundant than the fuel required for fission (uranium and plutonium)

• Nuclear fusion produces no long-lived nuclear waste products

Disadvantage of fusion reactors

• The conditions for nuclear fusion are much harder to achieve and maintain on Earth than fission