I ran into this counterintuitive situation when trying to do better simulations of a fusion reactor I designed. High end physics simulation software that might

I ran into this counterintuitive situation when trying to do better simulations of a fusion reactor I designed. High end physics simulation software that might do the job starts at $50k. Then there will still be tradeoffs on the accuracy of the simulation. Because of the way it uses some older, off the shelf equipment for a key part of the device, I might actually be able to build a prototype for that price.