The world’s population has already reached 8 Billion and so is the energy consumption demand accompanied by numerous challenges on the way. Globally, only 26% of the Energy is produced using renewable sources whereas the rest relies on non-renewable sources, mainly fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are finite resources that are exhaustible and on the other hand, they take millions of years to be produced. The burning of fossil fuels also contributes to global carbon emissions which increased by 5.3 percent in 2021, reaching a high record of 37.12 billion metric tons. Hence, it is clearly evident that it is time for us to switch to a more sustainable, cleaner, and renewable form of energy. And, Nuclear Energy is one such energy that can help us to reach our goal sustainably and is one of the most sustainable technologies. It is one of the cleanest energy sources on the earth, and once commercialized it will turn out to be a boon for us.

Now, let’s dive in more deeply.

What is Nuclear Energy?
Nuclear energy is the energy in the atoms or nuclei. It is produced either by the splitting of atoms known as Nuclear Fission or the fusing of atoms known as Nuclear Fusion. During both processes, large amounts of energy are released which are used as Nuclear Energy. But, the quest for it didn’t start today. It started 103 years ago, in 1920 when Arthur Eddington proposed the idea of stellar energy from hydrogen-helium fusion. Since then, there have been several breakthroughs in Nuclear Energy.
Currently, Nuclear Fusion and Nuclear Fission are the only methods used for Nuclear Energy. To understand their reliability, let’s start by understanding the difference between the two along with some light on their working.

Difference between Nuclear Fission and Nuclear Fusion

This table is made by the author of this article

Although both of them hold importance in their place, Nuclear Fusion energy has more advantages over Nuclear Fission. Nuclear Fusion provides us with very less radioactive waste which is manageable and about 4 timesgreater amount of energy than Nuclear Fission. Its by-product Helium can be reused whereas the radioactive waste by Fission is hazardous to humans.

Additionally, There is a lack of awareness amongst the people about the differences between Nuclear Fission and Nuclear Fusion which creates confusion among them about the harmful radioactive effects and their distrust of Nuclear Energy. Hence, in this article, I am going show the other side of Nuclear Energy known as Nuclear Fusion Energy and clear the misconception of people about Nuclear Energy.

Let’s further try to understand the science behind Nuclear Fusion Energy starting from zero to one!

What is Nuclear Fusion?
When atoms containing positive charge are brought together in a confinement with a supply of high temperature. They overcome their repulsion in the plasma state and move at high speed at high temperatures to fuse into each other forming a large atom and releasing a large amount of energy in the process. This is known as Nuclear Fusion. It is a mechanism used by the Sun to create energy due to its strong gravitational pull, huge mass, and high temperature.

How is fusion energy possible on Earth?
For fusion energy to happen on Earth, we need three things: Density, High Temperature, and Confinement. Fortunately, due to advancements in science and technology over the years, we are able to conduct Nuclear Fusion reactions even on earth now. Currently, we use two methods for Nuclear Fusion on Earth: Inertial Confinement and Magnetic Confinement using Hydrogen Isotopes Deuterium and Tritium.

Credits: IAEA

Now, let’s dig deep into each of them to understand Nuclear Fusion on Earth with examples.

Inertial Confinement
In Inertial Confinement, a small glass sphere containing frozen hydrogen is placed in the middle of the confinement capsule. Then we try to compress these hydrogen atoms in very high densities and temperatures by applying strong external force using powerful laser beams from the outer holes of the reactor to the target hydrogen point. But instead of focusing the laser on the frozen hydrogen we hit the pellet of the fuel for generating high density and temperature for fusion. The reaction lasts for an extremely short duration about less than or equal to 10 to the power -10 seconds.One of the facilities that are using inertial confinement currently is the National Ignition Facility. The National Ignition Facility was set up with the aim to enable global security and sustainable clean energy. It has an 85ft tall building containing 192 laser beams divided into two parallel beams each having 96 beams.

Magnetic Confinement
In Magnetic Confinement, we use magnetic fields to confine and squeeze the plasma. The magnetic reactor contains a vacuum space in which deuterium and tritium (they are two isotopes of hydrogen and produce helium when fused together) are placed whereas the magnetic field lines are produced by passing an electric current through coils. For confining the plasma for a longer duration of time, the magnetic field lines are twisted. Further, the charged plasma particles move in a closed orbit and longitudinal direction to avoid contact between the walls and never escape from the reactor. Currently, two devices are being used for magnetic confinement: Tokamak and Stellarator

Challenges related to Nuclear Fusion Energy

• Achieveing an extremely high temperature for converting the fuel into plasma and fusion reaction taking place.
  
• The amount of energy received in the output should exceed the amount of energy put in. This is known as the Ignition state. Recently, the National Ignition Facility was able to achieve this by gaining about 3.5 megajoules from the 2.5 megajoules that were put in but it is still very difficult to achieve.
  
• The ions are highly active and energetic in the plasma state which makes it difficult for us to control the plasma state.
  
• The material used to build the plasma chamber or the nuclear reactor needs to be highly resistant to the highly reactive activities happening inside such as the enormous amount of heat.
  

Let’s continue to invest in sustainable technologies like these!