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Why do you pick Helion over Commonwealth Fusion Systems?
by runnerup 5y ago
Why do you pick Helion over Commonwealth Fusion Systems?
- pfdietz 5y agoHelion is using a FRC (Field Reversed Configuration), which was what I was responding to. Also: Helion is taking a riskier physics approach in order to reduce engineering difficulty. I consider this a very good idea. Ordinary DT reactors make heat (80% of the energy comes off in neutrons, the energy of which gets turned to heat in a blanket.) Fission reactors should be able to make heat more easily and cheaply, so what is the point? Helion's approach, on the other hand, has plasma energy converted directly to electrical energy by expanding against a magnetic field. If this can be made to work, it means the non-nuclear side of a fusion power plant can be made much smaller (ideally, turbines/heat exchangers/cooling towers could be avoided entirely; realistically they could be made much smaller for a given plant power output). Their fuel choice (DD, D3He), while much more difficult to burn, subjects the materials of the reactor to much less radiation damage. There is a realistic chance the first wall of a D3He reactor could last the life of the power plant.
- ncmncm 5y agoTokamak, dead end.