Nuclear Fusion: The Hot and Cold Science

When a group of scientists claimed they had achieved nuclear fusion, the discovery became one of the most controversial of the 20th century. What is fusion, and what role does heat play in it? Physics - Energy And Radioactivity - Learning Points. Nuclear fission and nuclear fusion both release huge amounts of energy. Nuclear fusion requires extraordinary amounts of heat to occur. It was claimed in the 1980s that cold fusion had been achieved in a test tube. There is no evidence that cold fusion works, and hot fusion is still the only accepted method. A Twig Context Film. Reinforce and extend the learning required by the curriculum. Twig’s context films show abstract concepts in action in the real world.