That was a response to a question.
Somebody else focused primarily on nickel and said "Hey, bro, no reaction with nickel so no fusion" ~ but that wasn't my part of the discussion.
The deal with nickel is "tunneling" and a resultant fusion of a proton with a nucleus with the consequent release of a great deal of energy (but a lot short of what you get screwing around with U238 or plutonium.)
I don't think anyone but High Energy Physics aficionados are demanding that Low Energy Physics show the results of High Energy Physics.
Still, isn't that interesting that Nickel, with 5 stable isotopes actually has 1 stable isotope that can be turned into iron.
Definitely need to follow up on that one to see what it's really about because that certainly puts the sword to a common understanding of "stable".
Bet Dr. Focardi can tell us what that's about ~
If fusion of elements heavier than iron released energy, it would occur in the cores of stars. Stars would contain more and more of these heavier elements the older they were. Stars would never run out of fuel.
Still, isn't that interesting that Nickel, with 5 stable isotopes actually has 1 stable isotope that can be turned into iron.
Not that interesting. "with a half-life over 700×1018 years"