What is Fusion?
Since the dawn of civilization, humanity has gazed skyward, seeking answers among the stars. Now, we stand on the threshold of harnessing their most profound secret - fusion energy.
It's a similar process that ignites our sun and countless stars across the cosmos, the merging of atoms to release extraordinary power, that promises to transform our world.
Fusion represents not just a new energy source, but the key to unlocking humanity's boundless future on Earth and beyond.
How does it work?
Fusion is the process that powers the Sun and the stars. Unlike nuclear fission, which splits large, unstable atoms like uranium, fusion combines small, light atoms, typically hydrogen, to form heavier ones. This process releases a large amount of energy.
In the Sun’s core, hydrogen atoms collide with such force that they overcome their natural repulsion (since both nuclei are positively charged) and fuse together. This happens at temperatures around 15 million degrees Celsius and under extreme pressure from the Sun’s gravity.
To recreate fusion on Earth, we can’t rely on gravity, so we must generate much higher temperatures, over 100 million degrees Celsius, to get the same result. At these temperatures, the fusion fuel becomes a hot, charged state of matter called plasma.
Scientists usually use two special forms of hydrogen: Deuterium and Tritium. These isotopes have extra neutrons, making them more likely to fuse at these temperatures compared to regular hydrogen, which needs much higher temperatures.
The Magnetic Confinement Path
Once the plasma is hot enough, we need to keep it stable and away from any surfaces, otherwise, it cools down instantly and fusion stops. Because plasma is made of charged particles, we use powerful magnetic fields to hold and shape it inside a vacuum chamber. This keeps it suspended and confined long enough for fusion to happen.
When Deuterium and Tritium nuclei fuse, they form helium and release a neutron. The neutron carries most of the energy, which we can capture as heat and convert into electricity.
Fusion has major advantages over today’s energy sources:
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The fuel is abundant and widely available.
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It produces no greenhouse gases.
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It generates no long-lived radioactive waste.
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There’s no risk of a meltdown—fusion can’t run away or explode.
Once commercialized, fusion energy will power the world with clean, reliable electricity, helping to solve the climate and energy crisis at the same time.
Bonus Information
Fission Vs. Fusion
Nuclear fission is the technology behind the "nuclear energy" we know today in power plants around the world. In Fission, heavy atomic nuclei are split (like uranium or plutonium), releasing a lot of energy. The downside is that it also generates long‑lived, highly radioactive waste that requires containment for thousands of years. Another risk is that it can also suffer from runaway reactions and meltdowns if not carefully managed.
Fusion, in contrast, releases helium as its main byproduct and only short‑lived, low‑level activated material. Fusion reactions naturally shut down if conditions change, making the process inherently safer and enabling installations near or in residential and urban areas.
At nT-Tao, we're working on a compact fusion system. With the technology we are using, we expect to reach a higher temperature, higher density, and shorter confinement time to produce energy. That's our mission.
