Fusion Power: For Real This Time?

[flatandy]

Of course (a) is essentially wrong and (b) is pointless. That's why I described them as the worst. At least Big Wind and Big Gas oppose fusion for rational, if entirely self-interested, reasons. The worst part of the green lobby are the ones who oppose things for utterly irrational reasons. They're as bad as Mids and Baloo who don't actually own petro-giants but just oppose progress for trolling reasons.

[flatandy]

Anyway, as a nerdy pedant, I really hate seeing sentences like this - which was in today's New York Times Newsletter:

“They can say unequivocally that they did a nuclear fusion reaction that produces more energy than goes in to start the reaction,” Kenneth said. “Nuclear fusion research has been around for 50 years, and no one has been able to say that before.”

This is completely untrue. We have definitely had fusion reactions that produce more energy than went in at the start. We haven't had contained fusion reactions that did that. But we've definitely had H-bombs that were tested and worked.

[rick49]

if skunk works has found a way to make fusion power viable, big solar, big wind, big oil, big fission and big coal would become almost obsolete overnight. i expect they would exert a lot of pressure to block it.

[rick49]

National Ignition Facility Exceeds Break Even Nuclear Fusion

"An American first on a par with the historical significance of the moon landing – scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have exceeded fusion break even."

"National Ignition Facility achieves fusion ignition"

"The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) today announced the achievement of fusion ignition at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) — a major scientific breakthrough decades in the making that will pave the way for advancements in national defense and the future of clean power. On Dec. 5, a team at LLNL’s National Ignition Facility(NIF) conducted the first controlled fusion experiment in history to reach this milestone, also known as scientific energy breakeven, meaning it produced more energy from fusion than the laser energy used to drive it."
wattsupwiththat.com/2022/12/13/national-ignition-facility-exceeds-break-even-nuclear-fusion/

DOE National Laboratory Makes History by Achieving Fusion Ignition
www.energy.gov/articles/doe-national-laboratory-makes-history-achieving-fusion-ignition

[rick49]

"U.S. officials have said they hope to broadly have an entirely clean electric grid by 2035 and commercially viable fusion power within a decade." (10 years. thats pretty fast. or are they just overly optimistic?)


"Carolyn Kuranz, associate professor of nuclear engineering and radiological sciences at the University of Michigan, told The Hill on Monday that nuclear fusion does create byproducts that have small amounts of radioactive material, but she said the material can stay on the power plant site and be used to fuel future fusion reaction instead of needing to go elsewhere."

"However, fusion comes with its own drawbacks. A future fusion industry built around large, expensive individual plants would be dependent on an expanded, high-capacity electric grid to move power across the region or country — something that feels almost as far away at this point as commercial fusion power." 
thehill.com/homenews/3774082-five-takeaways-from-the-fusion-energy-breakthrough/

[ootlg]

The way forward? Seems promising. link

[perrykneeham]

I saw that new wonder material. Remember graphene? That was the last one.

I guess that much will depend on the practical, mechanical properties of this new material. Near loss-free transmission of power is something of a holy grail.

[flatandy]

Graphene is at least used in some applications now, even if it’s not mass produced yet.

“High temp” superconductors so far have a big problem, which is that - I think - they’re currently all ceramics. Which means that you can’t easily make them into wires, which is what you want from a superconductor.

[ootlg]

Yes, and even so, the cost and time to replace the existing; but for the future let's hope. I'd imagine it'd be something akin to replacing a leaky water system.