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Name: Vito
Status: student
Age: 13

Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 2000-2001
Question:
If you were running a fusion power plant, and I know that the energy cannot be contained so we can't use it yet, but if you were to combine two hydrogen atoms to perform fusion, I know you would get helium, but could you then split the helium to turn it back into hydrogen, just so you can perform fusion again?

Replies:
Yes, in principle. Of course, you'd have to give back all the energy you got from fusion to do this.

Tim Mooney

All the energy you got out of the fusion reaction to make the helium would have to go back into it to break it back into hydrogen. The best you could hope for would be to break even. In real life you would lose energy during each cycle so you would turn less of the helium back into hydrogen each cycle, eventually resulting in having nothing but helium and heat energy.

Dr. Bradburn


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