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FUSION: NUCLEAR ENERGY FOR THE FUTURE

Supporters of nuclear energy view fusion as the best possible form of energy, not only because its fuel, hydrogen, is available in virtually limitless supply, but also because fusion will apparently pro­duce little in the way of radioactive pollution. Un­fortunately, many technological difficulties have been encountered in efforts to stage a controlled fusion reaction. It takes a phenomenally high tem­perature (100,000,000°C) to make atoms fuse, and once the reaction starts, no one knows whether it can be regulated. Fusion research is going on in several countries, particularly the United States and the former Soviet Union.