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    $\begingroup$ But how is this related to the cause of energy release in nuclear fusion? Could you explain @rob $\endgroup$
    – Nuclear fusion
    Commented Jun 3, 2022 at 15:39
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I already mentioned deuterium formation, which is the simplest case of nuclear fusion. $\endgroup$
    – rob ♦
    Commented Jun 3, 2022 at 15:42
  • $\begingroup$ Op is asking about how does mass defect is converted into energy. $\endgroup$
    – Debanjan Biswas
    Commented Jun 3, 2022 at 16:32
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    $\begingroup$ @JohnDoty It’s not the relativistic mass. A better statement would have been $m_\text{bound}= \gamma_1 m_1 + \gamma_2 m_2 + \cdots + (U_\text{grav}+U_\text{EM}+U_\text{nuclear})/c^2$, with this argument for assigning negative values to the interaction energies. But that seemed a little over-the-top for the pedagogical level of this asker. $\endgroup$
    – rob ♦
    Commented Jun 3, 2022 at 17:27
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    $\begingroup$ @Davius See this answer for an argument that the negative energy stored in an attractive field is exactly as real as the positive energy associated with motion. In general relativity, it is made quite clear that all contributions to the energy density contribute to gravitation. $\endgroup$
    – rob ♦
    Commented Jul 20, 2022 at 14:31