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Technological Design - Nuclear Fusion

Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse," to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quanitities of energy. Fusion is the process that powers active stars, the hydrogen bomb, and some experiemental devices examining fusion power for electrical generation.

The fusion of two nuclei with lower masses than iron (which along with nickel, has the largest binding energy per nucleon) generally releases energy, while the fusion of nuclei heavier than iron absorbs energy. The opposite is true for the reverse process, nuclear fission. This means that fusion generally occurs for lighter elements only, and likewise, that fission normally occurs only for heavier elements. There are extreme astrophysical events that can lead to short periods of fusion with heavier nuclei. This is th process that gives rise to nucleosynthesis, the creation of heavy elements during events such as supernovae.