Nuclear fusion

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Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei combine to form a larger nucleus. The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifested as either the release or the absorption of energy. This difference in mass arises as a result of the difference in nuclear binding energy between the atomic nuclei before and after the fusion reaction. Active stellar cores are powered by fusion. Nucleosynthesis via fusion, in the Big Bang and in stars, creates all elements lighter than nickel (atomic number 28). Fusion typically occurs via thermonuclear fusion, an isotropic process requiring a triple product of very high temperature (in the kiloelectronvolt or hundred million Kelvin range), density, and confinement time. These conditions occur only in, thermonuclear weapons and boosted fission weapons, and fusion power experiments. Typically, the nuclear fusion process that produces atomic nuclei lighter than nickel-62 is exothermic, due to the positive gradient of the...

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