Fusion power offers the potential of an almost limitless source of energy for future generations but it also presents some formidable scientific and engineering challenges. It is called 'fusion' because it is based on fusing light nuclei such as hydrogen isotopes to release energy. The process is similar to that which powers the sun and other stars. Effective energy-producing fusions require that gas from a combination of isotopes of hydrogen - deuterium and tritium - is heated to very high temperatures (100 million degrees centigrade) and confined for at least one second. One way to achieve these conditions is to use magnetic confinement. The most promising configuration at present is the tokamak, a Russian word for a torus-shaped magnetic chamber.

More background information about fusion and its history.



Watch a short film, Energy of the Future - Fusion 2100, that gives an entertaining and informative nine-minutes account in which a school class in 2100 re-enacts the development of fusion energy.