Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear fusion is simply the fusion of atoms, it is more commonly lighter atoms such as Hydrogen which are fused together in Helium. The complete opposite is nuclear fission which is the splitting of heavy atoms such as Uranium. Even though these processes are completely opposite they can both release huge amounts of energy. The issue with fission is that you need a critical mass in order for the chain reaction to sustain, once sustained it must be controlled by a moderator, this keeps the reaction at a steady state such as that used in nuclear power. Nuclear fission is a very dangerous process, it's difficult to control, results in radioactive isotopes with long half lives and is simply too expensive for the home scientist, I'm pretty sure it's not legal either.
Nuclear fusion can equally be as dangerous as fission if a thermonuclear process is used, however other methods may be used which can make fusion relatively safe. These other methods require certain mechanisms in place to sustain fusion, the mechanisms require energy, therefore if the power is cut then the process stops. The issue with fusion is that the reaction cannot be contained mechanically and therefore energy cannot be transferred mechanically either, there are many methods but these make energy capture rather difficult. Fusion is fairly inexpensive to achieve for the home scientist, it is also fairly easy to achieve compared to fission.
This page is dedicated to my attempts at nuclear fusion, the most recent at the top. The reason I want to achieve fusion is that because relatively few in the general public have done so, far fewer have used the neutrons produced for anything productive. I have a few ideas and for one of them I will be the first in the general public to achieve.
Inertial Confinement - Attempt 2
Inertial Confinement - Attempt 1
Z-Pinch