Nuclear Fusion Papers

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Nuclear Fusion: The future, the problems, and where we are now. Jake Carmack & Paul Turner Intro Energy is something that has been discussed more and more in recent years. Today the most common sources of energy are fossil fuels like oil, natural gas, and coal. Slow development has been made in green energy such as solar and wind; the problem with green energy is efficiency. Nuclear fission is another form of “green energy,” and its efficiency is greater than its other green counterparts; however, nuclear fission is dangerous. If something goes wrong in a fission reaction, the results could devastating. Scientist believe there is a permanent fix to the energy crisis somewhere in the near future. Nuclear fusion, as leading scientist believe,…show more content…
In figure 1.1, it shows that there will be a shortfall of energy starting in 2040-2050 that must be covered by alternate sources. As of today, there is no better option than fusion energy. Fusion energy is safe, green, and theoretically limitless. There are several experiments that are being built that hold the future of nuclear fusion and perhaps the future of the world’s energy crisis. These experiments are called ITER and EUROfusion. Basics of Nuclear Reactions Covering the basic concepts of nuclear and fusion energy may assist in the understanding of why fusion energy is going to be so important for the future. Most everything on this earth is made of atoms, tiny particles consisting of protons, electrons, and neutrons. In each atom, the protons and neutrons are housed in the center inside something called a nucleus, while the electrons move about the nucleus of an atom in random motion. The two types of reactions that this paper will discuss are fusion and fission reactions, focusing on fusion. In simplest form, fission is a nuclear reaction that involves splitting of a nucleus, while fusion reactions involve the combining of nuclei. Within the atom there are certain forces holding these particles together. Holding the protons and neutrons together is

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