31 ms·
The research I've seen planned isn't about plasma physics - it's about material properties, lithium blanket designs, and lots of other finicky engineering detai
by azernik 8y ago
The research I've seen planned isn't about plasma physics - it's about material properties, lithium blanket designs, and lots of other finicky engineering details that will be necessary for actual practical reactors of different designs.
- AlanSE 8y agoWhile those are all important, I thought that the main research goal of Iter was to understand the stability of the plasma for sustained net-energy operation. Aren't there still some remaining open questions about operating a D-T tokomak reactor to produce energy, like, does the plasma begin to rip itself apart after 1ms, okay, how about 10 seconds, how about 500 seconds, and so-on. I accept that I'm talking based on extremely vaguely remembered statements from many years ago... After all, if the goal was really these ancillary things you mention, many of them could be studied in other environments.