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No, there are multiple projects and companies that are making good progress toward commercially practical fusion reactors. Helion Energy has a contract to deli

No, there are multiple projects and companies that are making good progress toward commercially practical fusion reactors. Helion Energy has a contract to deliver Microsoft a fusion reactor by 2028. It's only four years away so we don't need to speculate about it. Helion will either deliver or they won't: https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-buy-power-nuclear-fusion-company-helion-2023-05-10/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-buy-power-nucle... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bDXXWQxK38 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bDXXWQxK38 https://www.helionenergy.com/ https://www.helionenergy.com/ MIT's Commonwealth Fusion Systems has started construction of their small scale SPARC reactor. Once that has proven itself they will build a larger scale ARC reactor. They should get to first plasma in 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3Giq6NuPYs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3Giq6NuPYs https://energy.mit.edu/news/mit-designed-project-achieves-major-advance-toward-fusion-energy/ https://energy.mit.edu/news/mit-designed-project-achieves-ma... https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/04/23/1090425/mits-superconducting-magnets-are-ready-for-fusion/ https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/04/23/1090425/mits-sup... https://cfs.energy/ https://cfs.energy/

Dr4kn 2y ago
No one can generate enough energy with fusion at the moment. Even if Helion could do it today they would need to build a larger reactor and test that too. Then build the one for Microsoft. To do all of this in 4 years is pretty much impossible
- peutetre 2y ago
  Helion's reactors are smaller and simpler field reversed configuration reactors. They've built multiple prototypes over the last 11 years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helion_Energy#Development_history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helion_Energy#Development_hist... The prototype currently under construction is Polaris. It's 25% larger than the previous prototype and they expect it to achieve net electricity production: https://www.helionenergy.com/polaris/ https://www.helionenergy.com/polaris/
grecy 2y ago
China are currently building 27 fission reactors, and the construction time is 7 years. If it takes 7 years to build something that is known and has been done a couple of hundred times before, I think it's safe to say it will take more than 4 years to build something of similar complexity that has never been done before.
- peutetre 2y ago
  Helion's reactors are smaller and simpler. They've already built 6 prototypes across the last 11 years. They're building the seventh prototype now.

Dr4kn 2y ago

No one can generate enough energy with fusion at the moment. Even if Helion could do it today they would need to build a larger reactor and test that too. Then build the one for Microsoft. To do all of this in 4 years is pretty much impossible

peutetre 2y ago
Helion's reactors are smaller and simpler field reversed configuration reactors. They've built multiple prototypes over the last 11 years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helion_Energy#Development_history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helion_Energy#Development_hist... The prototype currently under construction is Polaris. It's 25% larger than the previous prototype and they expect it to achieve net electricity production: https://www.helionenergy.com/polaris/ https://www.helionenergy.com/polaris/

grecy 2y ago

China are currently building 27 fission reactors, and the construction time is 7 years. If it takes 7 years to build something that is known and has been done a couple of hundred times before, I think it's safe to say it will take more than 4 years to build something of similar complexity that has never been done before.

peutetre 2y ago
Helion's reactors are smaller and simpler. They've already built 6 prototypes across the last 11 years. They're building the seventh prototype now.