How does nuclear fusion actually work and why is it so hard when we already have nuclear fission?
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Fission is like a stone at the top of a hill. The stone will roll down naturally. If you gather enough stones at the top of a hill, then the main problem is controlling it so that not too many stones roll down at the same time. But while that control is not simple, the rolling down itself is “natural”. Once you gather enough stones at the top of a hill (isolating fissionable material), the fission itself is self sustaining (ie once it starts, it will continue)
Fusion is like having a lot of stones at the bottom of a steep hill. To even start making power, a lot of effort is needed to push the stones to the top of the hill. And if you don’t push enough stones to the top, there won’t be enough usable energy. The hill in this case is a lot of pressure and a very high temperature. Unless there are conditions like the core of a star – fusion is not self sustaining.
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