Nuclear Fusion
The combining of light nuclei into a heavier one, releasing energy.
Formula / equation
²H + ³H → ⁴He + n + 17.6 MeV
Unit
MeV
In depth
Fusion releases more energy per nucleon than fission and produces no long-lived radioactive waste, but it requires temperatures above a hundred million kelvin to overcome electrostatic repulsion. Confining such a plasma long enough for net energy gain remains the central engineering challenge.
Examples in the real world
Hydrogen fusing to helium in the Sun; deuterium–tritium experiments at JET and ITER.