When Will Nuclear Fusion Energy Be Ready for Prime Time? Watch These Three Numbers

[ATCclears]

Fusion offers the potential for virtually limitless, clean energy. How long before this breakthrough can deliver on that promise? To get an idea, it's helpful to know three simple numbers in the science and economics of fusion representing key "break-even points."

• scientific break-even
• engineering break-even
• economic, or commercial, break-even

When Will Nuclear Fusion Energy Be Ready for Prime Time? Watch These Three Numbers

The latest fusion experiment cleared the first hurdle, but there are two more before it starts delivering clean, affordable energy

www.wsj.com

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[gryghin]

Thanks for sharing. There is usually a pay wall for wsj, but not this time.

Here's a straightforward explanation.

 

[ATCclears]

@gryghin I have a subscription to the WSJ and they have a newer feature that allows a subscriber to share the link for an article.

 

[LDmax]

 

[moose]

The supposed holy grail of clean energy.

I'm curious of the hidden down sides to it, there's always one or two. We tend to implement tech like this a bit early sometimes and it turns into a massive expensive boondoggle or worse, goes sideways and kills people.

 

[gryghin]

The supposed holy grail of clean energy.

I'm curious of the hidden down sides to it, there's always one or two. We tend to implement tech like this a bit early sometimes and it turns into a massive expensive boondoggle or worse, goes sideways and kills people.

Hey now... wind turbines only kill birds and bats... and it's unreliable.

 

[PORSCHE928S4]

The supposed holy grail of clean energy.

I'm curious of the hidden down sides to it, there's always one or two. We tend to implement tech like this a bit early sometimes and it turns into a massive expensive boondoggle or worse, goes sideways and kills people.

Three mile island clean energy !

 

[moose]

Three mile island clean energy !

Go back and read some of the stories of nuclear power in the 40's and 50's. The demon core makes great a story, SL-1 another just cause it's so gruesome.

Even today most reactors have their dirty little secret spent fuel ponds because they've not completely figured out what to do with it.

 

[PORSCHE928S4]

Go back and read some of the stories of nuclear power in the 40's and 50's. The demon core makes great a story, SL-1 another just cause it's so gruesome.

Even today most reactors have their dirty little secret spent fuel ponds because they've not completely figured out what to do with it.

Take a look about the stuff they did in Rocky flats

and now lol

 

[moose]

Take a look about the stuff they did in Rocky flats
View attachment 1331869
and now lol
View attachment 1331870

There's a YouTube channel called Plainly Difficult that I subscribe to details out a lot of the accidents and mishaps, most nuclear but he does other things.

 

[Heyjoe]

Has nuclear energy tech advanced in the past 60 years?

Sure it hasn't been perfected but it's absolutely the future. Why we aren't making significantly greater investments in nuclear energy is beyond me.

 

[Cavedweller]

I'm curious of the hidden down sides to it, there's always one or two.

With fusion energy, containment has always been the issue. A failure of the containment system would be catastrophic.

Edited for spelling.

 

[JustSomeGuy]

For something more local regarding radioactive releases, Hanford released a bunch of iodine-131 into the atmosphere in 1949 at the request of the US Air Force for testing purposes. Supposedly, the plume was 200 miles long. They called it Green Run.

 

[moose]

For something more local regarding radioactive releases, Hanford released a bunch of iodine-131 into the atmosphere in 1949 at the request of the US Air Force for testing purposes. Supposedly, the plume was 200 miles long. They called it Green Run.

The evils likes this done by .gov deserve a thread of its own.

 

[Cavedweller]

Even today most reactors have their dirty little secret spent fuel ponds because they've not completely figured out what to do with it.

This should not be an issue with fusion reactors, as both the primary fuel (hydrogen) and the waste product (helium) are non-radioactive.

The big problem is, nobody has ever been able to figure out how to build a controlled reactor.

 

[moose]

This should not be an issue with fusion reactors, as both the primary fuel (hydrogen) and the waste product (helium) are non-radioactive.

The big problem is, nobody has ever been able to figure out how to build a controlled reactor.

You said should and that was my point. Fusion itself is nonradioactive but the engineering around it could be quite messy. These are going to be the most complex machines humans have ever built and a little mistake is just a boatload of money. A big mistake, well....

We humans tend to build things before grasping all the implications.

 

[bolus]

These are going to be the most complex machines humans have ever built and a little mistake is just a boatload of money. A big mistake, well....

Well, you could buy twitter or fund medicare in my state for 45 years or buy 10 CERN Large Hadron Colliders. I wonder how long the Greedopocene epoch will last?

 

[Cavedweller]

You said should and that was my point. Fusion itself is nonradioactive but the engineering around it could be quite messy.

This is an excellent point. The whole idea of "clean" energy may be a pipe dream. As with wind turbines, solar panels, and lithium batteries, the whole process of producing "clean energy" can be quite dirty. Building a fusion reactor could very well have a lot of upstream adverse impacts.

These are going to be the most complex machines humans have ever built and a little mistake is just a boatload of money. A big mistake, well....

We humans tend to build things before grasping all the implications.

I agree 100%.