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There is MASSIVE amounts of doubt. We don't know. That's why ITER is being made in the first place. And the cost and build time has been staggering for a test p

There is MASSIVE amounts of doubt. We don't know. That's why ITER is being made in the first place. And the cost and build time has been staggering for a test platform.

Dylan16807 10y ago
We've done the reactions, we 'just' need to hold them together for longer. Why is that in doubt? Can you link something by an expert that doesn't think it's guaranteed to be possible?
- dogma1138 10y ago
  Because we haven't gotten an energy positive reaction and because the reaction efficiency actually goes down the longer it's going because of how the magnetic flux works in these types of reactors. There is a huge doubt that this type of fusion can be energy positive at small scales, which is why other types of fusion are being investigated primary aneutronic and ICF based ones. Aneutronic is pretty interesting because it produces almost no radiation that is directly harmful to living organisms, and ICF (almost has to be at this time) can be scaled down to very small scales, even molecular levels. Thermonuclear fusion on the other hand isn't a given, it's just the most studied form because it's piss easy to trigger you can build a thermonuclear reactor in your home and produce neutrons which means that fusion is going on, but there is a lot of doubt if it can be scaled to a controlled and energy positive reaction. The only forms we know of that work is a star which is effectively powered by the force of gravity so it's not necessarily an energy positive reaction in the classical sense or an H-Bomb which requires an energy source that is a not an especially small nuclear fission bomb. If I would have to make a bet It would be that Beam/ICF fusion and possibly aneutronic fusion when we'll have better hold over nanotechnology will be the energy sources of the future I'm actually somewhat skeptical that thermonuclear fusion will ever become an energy source in the future, even if we figure out that it can be energy positive under controllable circumstances.

There is MASSIVE amounts of doubt. We don't know. That's why ITER is being made in the first place. And the cost and build time has been staggering for a test platform.

Dylan16807 10y ago

We've done the reactions, we 'just' need to hold them together for longer. Why is that in doubt? Can you link something by an expert that doesn't think it's guaranteed to be possible?

dogma1138 10y ago
Because we haven't gotten an energy positive reaction and because the reaction efficiency actually goes down the longer it's going because of how the magnetic flux works in these types of reactors. There is a huge doubt that this type of fusion can be energy positive at small scales, which is why other types of fusion are being investigated primary aneutronic and ICF based ones. Aneutronic is pretty interesting because it produces almost no radiation that is directly harmful to living organisms, and ICF (almost has to be at this time) can be scaled down to very small scales, even molecular levels. Thermonuclear fusion on the other hand isn't a given, it's just the most studied form because it's piss easy to trigger you can build a thermonuclear reactor in your home and produce neutrons which means that fusion is going on, but there is a lot of doubt if it can be scaled to a controlled and energy positive reaction. The only forms we know of that work is a star which is effectively powered by the force of gravity so it's not necessarily an energy positive reaction in the classical sense or an H-Bomb which requires an energy source that is a not an especially small nuclear fission bomb. If I would have to make a bet It would be that Beam/ICF fusion and possibly aneutronic fusion when we'll have better hold over nanotechnology will be the energy sources of the future I'm actually somewhat skeptical that thermonuclear fusion will ever become an energy source in the future, even if we figure out that it can be energy positive under controllable circumstances.