3 ms·
Can someone comment on what kind of economic effect that working fusion reactor technology would have? I hear sometimes contradictory hear-say on the lines of
by dmos62 8y ago
Can someone comment on what kind of economic effect that working fusion reactor technology would have?
I hear sometimes contradictory hear-say on the lines of "unlimited energy", "reactor would have to be fed constantly".
- yreg 8y agoOne liter of ordinary seawater would still produce as much energy in a fusion reaction as 500 liters of fossil fuels in a chemical reaction. — random guy on Quora https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-limited-amount-of-fuel-for-nuclear-fusion https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-limited-amount-of-fuel-for-...
- Dylan16807 8y agoOh, that sentence is a bit misleading, that's talking about using purely the 0.015% of deuterium in the water.
- aiCeivi9 8y agoEven with free & unlimited source of heat there will be always a cost for generating each MWh.
- quotemstr 8y agoI'm not sure that it would have a profound effect at all. Fission is very power dense as well and fission fuel cost is not the primary driver of overall costs in existing nuclear designs. Fusion might end up looking a lot like fission, but hopefully with a lower perceived safety risk and thus more public acceptance. Granted, modern fission designs aren't actually unsafe, but that doesn't matter for PR purposes.
- andygates 8y agoIf we can build plants that are as huge and complex and expensive as fission plants, then about the same effect, but without the fuel / proliferation / waste problems (which is nothing to be sneezed at). If the cost is low, a brave new world with fusion replacing fossil generation as quickly as they can be built. Energy-inefficient processes like desalination and cracking water for hydrogen become attractive. If the cost is very high, it may be that renewables have stolen fusion's market slot. In that case we'll see some national prestige projects, but against a broader renewable energy market.