Fission, Fusion, What's The Confusion?

Clean, sustainable, and renewable energy is a hot topic. Our world runs on energy and our production and use of energy shouldn’t put us or future generations in harm’s way. Society has responded to increasing power demands with technology such as nuclear fission. Fission splits uranium into smaller elements and releases large amounts of energy used to heat water in nuclear reactors and ultimately produce electricity.   

Alternatively, there are renewable energy sources such as solar energy, wind power, tidal power, and even geothermal heat. So, where does fusion fit in? Fusion is what energizes our sun. Fusion is the fusing or combining of two or more smaller atoms into a larger one. Fusion has a nearly unlimited fuel supply (hydrogen from water) and has minimal by-products.  And if containment is lost in a fusion plant, the fusion reaction simply stops. However, these benefits are countered by the difficulty in harnessing fusion.