City Montessori School

ISC 2023-2025
Physics Project
Nuclear Fusion
Session: 2023-2025
Name: Nikhil Goyal
Class: 11th
Section: J

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 Acknowledgement

I would like to express my gratitude to my Physics Teacher and Principal who

gave me this golden opportunity to do the project on ‘Nuclear Fusion’. Also, my
parent and friends who helped me in completing this project.
I came to know about many new things. I am really thankful to them.

Nikhil Goyal
Date: 17/08/2023 Class 11 J

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 Index

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 Nuclear Fusion
Introduction
Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei, usually deuterium and
tritium (hydrogen variants), are combined to form one atomic nuclei and subatomic
particles (neutrons or protons). The difference in mass between the reactants and products is
manifested as either the release or absorption of energy. This difference in mass arises due to
the difference in nuclear binding energy between the atomic nuclei before and after the
reaction. Nuclear fusion is the process that powers active or main-sequence stars and
other high-magnitude stars, where large amounts of energy are released.

Nuclear Fusion
Fusion of Tritium and Deuterium to form Helium and Neutron Releasing Energy
A nuclear fusion process that produces atomic nuclei lighter than iron-56 or nickel-62 will
generally release energy. These elements have a relatively small mass and a relatively
large binding energy per nucleon. Fusion of nuclei lighter than these releases energy
(an exothermic process), while the fusion of heavier nuclei results in energy retained by the
product nucleons, and the resulting reaction is endothermic.

The Nuclear Energy Binding Curve

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 History of Nuclear Fusion
In 1921, Arthur Eddington suggested hydrogen–helium fusion could be the primary source of
stellar energy. Quantum tunnelling was discovered by Friedrich Hund in 1927, and shortly
afterwards Robert Atkinson and Fritz Houtermans used the measured masses of light
elements to demonstrate that large amounts of energy could be released by fusing small
nuclei. Building on the early experiments in artificial nuclear transmutation by Patrick
Blackett, laboratory fusion of hydrogen isotopes was accomplished by Mark Oliphant in
1932. In the remainder of that decade, the theory of the main cycle of nuclear fusion in stars
was worked out by Hans Bethe. Research into fusion for military purposes began in the early
1940s as part of the Manhattan Project. Self-sustaining nuclear fusion was first carried out on
1 November 1952, in the Ivy Mike hydrogen (thermonuclear) bomb test.

Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington

Suggested Hydrogen Helium Fusion
could be primary source of Stellar Energy

Sir Marcus Laurence Elwin Oliphant

Accomplished Laboratory Fusion
of Hydrogen Isotopes

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 The Ivy Mike Hydrogen Bomb Mushroom Cloud of the ‘Mike’
First Self-sustaining Nuclear Fusion carried out on 1 November 1952, in the Ivy
Mike Hydrogen (Thermonuclear) Bomb Test
While fusion was achieved in the operation of the hydrogen bomb (H-bomb), the reaction
must be controlled and sustained in order for it to be a useful energy source. Research into
developing controlled fusion inside fusion reactors has been ongoing since the 1930s, but the
technology is still in its developmental phase.
The US National Ignition Facility, which uses laser-driven inertial confinement fusion, was
designed with a goal of break-even fusion; the first large-scale laser target experiments were
performed in June 2009 and ignition experiments began in early 2011. On 13 December
2022, the United States Department of Energy announced that on 5 December 2022, they had
successfully accomplished break-even fusion, "delivering 2.05 megajoules (MJ) of energy to
the target, resulting in 3.15 MJ of fusion energy output."

National Ignition Facility Lawrence Livermore Lab

The US National Ignition Facility performed the first large-scale Laser Target
Experiment on June 2009 and Ignition Experiments began in Early 2011
First ever Break-Even Fusion was accomplished of 5th December 2022

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Requirements for Nuclear Fusion

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