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History

It has been a well-accepted fact that the sun is a source of great power since the early part of this century. In 1929, scientists first theorized that the energy production in stars was created by fusion: nuclear reactions involving light elements reacting to form heavier elements. By the late thirties, H. Bethe had analyzed most of our sun's nuclear fusion cycle. Fusion in our sun is caused when deuterium and tritium, both Hydrogen isotopes, react (in the presence of large amounts of heat) to form Helium, energy, and an extra neutron.

Two hydrogen isotopes fusing into Helium.

Man-made fusion reactions were thought to be impossible until the first uncontrolled fusion reactions were witnessed when nuclear bombs known as "George" and "Mike" were detonated in 1951 and 1952, respectively. Efforts to control fusion energy began in the 1950s. By 1955 scientists had witnessed the enormity of the task. A successful fusion reaction would not only require temperatures in excess of 50x106 K, but would also need to be isolated for a long enough time so the reaction could produce more energy than required to begin the reaction. The most promising fuels for fusion reactions are deuterium, and tritium. Deuterium and tritium both are hydrogen isotopes. Deuterium is a stable isotope and is naturally found in water, while tritium is very unstable, radioactive, and must be man-made. Several methods for containment exist. They include the Tokamak generator, inertial containment, and mirror confinement.

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