Question

A company wants to start a nuclear power plant as a way to produce clean energy. They want to use the same reaction that's used in thermonuclear weapons. Which of the following explains why this is not possible?

A. The energy in nuclear fusion is too small to generate electricity.
B. The energy in nuclear fission produces chemicals that harm the environment.
C. The energy in nuclear fission burns out as soon as it's produced.
D. The energy in nuclear fusion can't be generated in a controlled manner

Answer 1

The correct choice is D .

"Thermonuclear" is the fancy word used to indicate nuclear fusion ... the source of energy in the so-called "H-bomb".

Fusion has everything going for it:

-- The raw material it uses is Hydrogen, which is cheap, plentiful, and all around us (in water).

-- The waste products left over from the reaction are ... water and Hydrogen ! Which are totally non-polluting.

-- The reaction produces a ginormous amount of energy.

That's why scientists and engineers have have been working around the clock for the past 60 years to figure out a way to use nuclear fusion to produce cheap, clean energy for commercial use. But we don't have it yet.

Why is that ? The answer is: Because nuclear fusion is a lot like the mythical "Universal Solvent".

Think about this: If you discovered a substance that could dissolve ANYTHING, could you sell it ? You'd think it would be pretty valuable, right ?

Yes it would. But what could you keep it in ?

Nuclear fusion is something like that. It produces SO MUCH energy that we haven't found a way to CONTROL it yet ... start it and stop it, keep it going when you want it to keep going, keep it in one place without destroying the building, and draw off some of the energy in a nice controlled process.

Once we develop ways to operate a fusion reaction and control it safely, energy may become so cheap that it's not even worth putting meters on the outside of our houses. But we're not there yet.