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It's a valid point that ITER will not produce net power, but it's still a big step forward. Years ago I worked for a brilliant physicist who believed (usually
by anonymousiam 5y ago
It's a valid point that ITER will not produce net power, but it's still a big step forward.
Years ago I worked for a brilliant physicist who believed (usually correctly) that any factor less than an order of magnitude was just an "engineering problem".
- Invictus0 5y agoDid you read TFA? The author is not arguing that it's not worthwhile to fund fusion research; she's arguing against the misleading discourse surrounding it. "But it's still a step forward" is exactly the reason that science is misleading the public.
- anonymousiam 5y agoYes. I RTFA and saw that. I was not disagreeing with her.
- pfdietz 5y agoUnfortunately for that viewpoint, the power density of a DT fusion reactor is at least an order of magnitude worse than commercial fission reactors. PWR reactor vessel = 20 MW/m^3, ITER = 0.05 MW/m^3, ARC = 0.5 MW/m^3.