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There are several fusion reactors currently in existence and operational as of this day. The problem is none of those reactors produce more energy than they co

by jussij 7y ago

There are several fusion reactors currently in existence and operational as of this day. The problem is none of those reactors produce more energy than they consume.

jtbayly 7y ago
Meaning they don't work. Meaning a "reactor" as we think of it—ie one accomplishing it's purpose of power generation—doesn't exist.
- fulafel 7y ago
  Nuclear reactors aren't necessarily used for power generation. The other applications of nuclear reactors are for example producing interesting elements or isotoopes, and irradiating things like cancer patients and physics experiments. There's are also bioreactors and chemical reactors. It seems to me the term reactor is just used for a device that induces reactions.
- egdod 7y ago
  The reactors work in that they produce measurable fusion reactions. They only don’t work in practical terms of being a power plant.
  - jtbayly 7y ago
    Yeah. That's exactly what I said. They don't work for what we intend to accomplish with them.
    - egdod 7y ago
      No, you said it doesn’t work as a reactor. It does. The definition of “reactor” doesn’t require generating net positive power.
willis936 7y ago
Incorrect. The experiments, largely, are not failures. The confinement devices are made to perform science. A fusion reactor power plant is expensive and it is much cheaper to design a reactor that works then to make a bunch of full-scale reactors that don’t. Also finding 10 billion dollars is hard. Most of these devices use hydrogren most of the time, meaning the cross section of fusion even in high temperatures and densities will be low. If the goal of these devices was fusion energy they would all be using deuterium, at the very least. The fields of plasma physics and materials have progressed to the point where a future reactor likely wouldn’t be a failure. Just look at W7-X and (in 10 years) ITER. Q=10 operation will likely be a very stressful test on ITER and it will likely only happen towards the end of its life (2035). Q=1 shots should be pretty early into tritium operation.

by jussij 7y ago

There are several fusion reactors currently in existence and operational as of this day. The problem is none of those reactors produce more energy than they consume.

jtbayly 7y ago

Meaning they don't work. Meaning a "reactor" as we think of it—ie one accomplishing it's purpose of power generation—doesn't exist.

fulafel 7y ago
Nuclear reactors aren't necessarily used for power generation. The other applications of nuclear reactors are for example producing interesting elements or isotoopes, and irradiating things like cancer patients and physics experiments. There's are also bioreactors and chemical reactors. It seems to me the term reactor is just used for a device that induces reactions.
egdod 7y ago
The reactors work in that they produce measurable fusion reactions. They only don’t work in practical terms of being a power plant.
- jtbayly 7y ago
  Yeah. That's exactly what I said. They don't work for what we intend to accomplish with them.
  - egdod 7y ago
    No, you said it doesn’t work as a reactor. It does. The definition of “reactor” doesn’t require generating net positive power.

willis936 7y ago

Incorrect. The experiments, largely, are not failures. The confinement devices are made to perform science. A fusion reactor power plant is expensive and it is much cheaper to design a reactor that works then to make a bunch of full-scale reactors that don’t. Also finding 10 billion dollars is hard. Most of these devices use hydrogren most of the time, meaning the cross section of fusion even in high temperatures and densities will be low. If the goal of these devices was fusion energy they would all be using deuterium, at the very least. The fields of plasma physics and materials have progressed to the point where a future reactor likely wouldn’t be a failure. Just look at W7-X and (in 10 years) ITER. Q=10 operation will likely be a very stressful test on ITER and it will likely only happen towards the end of its life (2035). Q=1 shots should be pretty early into tritium operation.