No, fusion is very different from the technology commonly referred to as nuclear power or fission. In fact, fusion is the opposite process of fission.
Fission—the process of using neutrons to split heavier elements such as uranium or plutonium to generate energy—has two basic properties that create risk. First, it works via a chain reaction in the fuel, and the chain reaction has the potential to run out of control. Second, when the uranium fuel ‘fissions,’ it produces highly radioactive byproducts, which rapidly generate intense heat that can melt the fuel and pose safety concerns.
During fusion, two light atomic nuclei, usually isotopes of hydrogen, fuse together to form heavier nuclei such as helium, releasing a neutron and enormous amounts of energy in the process. Fusion does not work via a chain reaction, and therefore cannot become unstable in the same way as fission. The byproduct of the fusion reaction are elements such as helium, an entirely stable and safe gas.
