Abstract

The article shows that the so-called “mass defect” (a decrease in the total mass of nucleons when they merge in a nucleus) can be explained without violating the law of its conservation and proportionality of energy, if we exclude the postulates of the theory of relativity associated with the conversion of mass into energy. The need to consider the mass balance of by-products of the fusion reaction and the radiation accompanying it, in total equal to the “mass defect” is substantiated. The energy-consuming nature of the processes of cold and hot fusion, the cause of its occurrence and the source of fusion energy, which is the hidden mass of the Universe, are revealed. The reasons for the irreversibility of the nucleosynthesis process are named and the concept of its efficiency is introduced, the vanishing of which corresponds to the equality of the rates of synthesis and decay of chemical elements. On this basis, a conclusion is made about the inconsistency of the idea of using binding energy in hot and cold fusion power plants.

Keywords

primary and secondary nucleosynthesis, hidden mass, binding and fusion energy, mass balance, counter-direction of decay and fusion, irreversibility and efficiency.