Fusion reactions occur only at very high temperatures and most
readily between deuterium and tritium ("heavy" and "super-heavy"
hydrogen) producing a helium nucleus and a neutron (Figure 1.1).
The reaction releases energy, mainly carried by the neutron, and this
energy would be used to generate electricity and possibly hydrogen in
a fusion power station. Deuterium (D) is easily extracted from water,
and tritium (T) would be made by the neutrons hitting a blanket
containing a lithium compound around the very hot, fully ionised D-T
gas ("plasma"). As the energy released is about ten million times as
much as from a chemical reaction, the amount of fuel required is
correspondingly less; half a bath of water plus the lithium in one
laptop battery would produce 200,000kW-hours of electricity the
same as 70 tonnes of coal, and equal to the UK's per capita
electricity consumption for 30 years. Fusion reactions do not produce
greenhouse gases, and the materials used in......
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