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Nope. And this is fine. ITER is not a prototype of a commercial fusion reactor, it's a burning plasma laboratory. Its main goal is to study the plasma confinem
by cyberax 3y ago
Nope. And this is fine.
ITER is not a prototype of a commercial fusion reactor, it's a burning plasma laboratory. Its main goal is to study the plasma confinement technology.
- magicalhippo 3y agoITER is also supposed to be the final step before a commercial reactor. If SPARC works well and they can keep the pace they're at to make ARC, then ITER might be a dead-end in that regard, no?
- cubefox 3y agoIter's is supposed to have a successor, DEMO, which would be the final step before a commercial reactor. It is doubtful whether DEMO will ever be built.
- cyberax 3y agoWe already have enough experience that makes ITER obsolete. Newer designs will have a much thinner central column and stronger magnets, resulting in much better confinement. And high-temperature superconductors will an order of magnitude cheaper. Right now, ITER is still needed to get information on plasma properties at the temperatures required for fusion.