Fusion Power Explained – Future or Failure Speed: 1.

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We can get energy in lots of ways: burning fossil fuels, splitting atoms, or
sunlight (1)…………........ In a nutshell, fusion is a (2)…………… Meaning
that the ingredients have to be incredibly hot. So hot, that the atoms (3)
…………….. their electrons, making a plasma where nuclei and electrons
bounce around freely. In order to overcome this (4)………….., the particles
have to be going at the speed of light. In this context, very fast means "very
hot". They are so massive, that the pressure in their cores generates the heat to
squeeze the nuclei together until they (5)……….………, creating heavier nuclei
and releasing energy in the process. It is this energy release that scientists hope
to harness in a new generation of power plant: The fusion reactor. On our
planet, it's impossible to use this (6)……………….. method to create fusion.
Hitherto, scientists have invented two ways of making plasmas hot enough to
fuse: The first type of reactor suggests squeezing a plasma in a (7)
……………………….by utilizing a magnetic field. These magnetic
confinement reactors such as the I.T.E.R. reactor in France, use (8)
……………………. cooled with liquid helium to within a few degrees of
absolute zero. The second type is called "(9)……………………….." uses
pulses from super-powered lasers to heat the surface of a (10)……………. of
fuel. Imploding it, briefly making the fuel hot and dense enough to fuse. In fact,
the National (11)…………………….. Facility in the U.S. uses one of the most
powerful lasers in the world for fusion experiments. The technology has a long
way to go before it's (12)……...………….., and maybe it never will be. It
proves to be an impossible task to make a viable fusion reactor on earth, but if it
gets there, it will be so efficient that a single glass of seawater could be used to
produce as much energy as burning (13)…….………….. oil, with no waste.
Specific (14)…………….. with extra neutrons called Deuterium and Tritium
are needed to make the right reactions. It's radioactive and there may only be 20
kilograms of it in the world, mostly in (15)……………………. which makes it
incredibly expensive. So we may need another (16)…………….. for Tritium
could bond with oxygen making radioactive water, which could be dangerous as
it (17)……………….. the environment. Maybe we should cut out losses or
maybe, when the (18)…………….. is unlimited clean energy for everyone, it
might be worth the risk.