I. Introduction
Thermonuclear fusion involves the forcing together (unification) of light nuclei to form a heavier nucleus, which due to the mass defect occurs with generation of energy, as expressed in the ubiquitous () expression. Fusion occurs at extremely high temperatures, exceeding the core temperature of the Sun, which is approximately 10 million degrees Celsius. For example, the deuterium–tritium fusion reaction occurs at temperatures in excess of 175 million degrees Celsius and that of deuterium–deuterium (D-D) at approximately 232 million degrees Celsius.