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I would imagine since, combined, we're spending tens of billions of dollars on Fusion research - someone must have some ideas for step 2, right?!
by onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
I would imagine since, combined, we're spending tens of billions of dollars on Fusion research - someone must have some ideas for step 2, right?!
- kortex 4y agoWe have some ideas, of course. The rough idea is: surround the reactor with a lithium blanket. This gets bombarded with neutrons, breeding fuel and heating the lithium, which transfers its heat to coolant to spin turbines. The devil is in all the engineering details, like: how do we make alloys to deal with neutron bombardment/hydrogen embrittlement, what's the optimal geometry to capture flux while being serviceable, etc. Much of that work can and is researched in parallel, but there will be inevitable integration hell that has a burning fusion reactor core as a prerequisite.
- TedDoesntTalk 4y agoWhat is done with the “spent” lithium blanket? Is it radioactive waste?
- esteth 4y agoIt depends on how it’s engineered. The lithium itself wouldn’t be “radioactive waste” but the vessel for the lithium would likely be.
- pfdietz 4y agoThere are currently major unsolved problems with step 2. https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/research.seas.ucla.edu/dist/d/39/files/2022/06/Final-FINAL-CIMTEC-2022-copy-Perugia-Italy-6-29-2022.pdf https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/research.seas.ucla.edu/dist/d/...
- stormbrew 4y ago10s of billions... Over many decades. We spend very little on fusion research overall.
- onlyrealcuzzo 4y agoITER itself costs $21B (over a decade). Globally we are definitely spending $10B+ per year.