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I'm a bit of a fusion contrarian. I think it's cool and all, but I don't think we're going to get it working. Instead, we should be focusing on building nuclear
by Synaesthesia 1y ago
I'm a bit of a fusion contrarian. I think it's cool and all, but I don't think we're going to get it working. Instead, we should be focusing on building nuclear (fission) plants, and of course expanding use of Solar and wind. China is doing it, they're now world leaders in nuclear power, along with Russia.
- dustbunny 1y agoI think this is the dominant viewpoint of everything thinking about nuclear. But using "instead" implies zero sum thinking. Halting research in fusion does not cause investment in fission. They are only slightly related things.
- rickydroll 1y agoI'm basically in the same camp as you. However, nuclear plants take over 10 years to build. Battery capacity has increased dramatically over the past few years. Current projections indicate that 2025 will see more batteries brought online than there were in total in 2023. With that rate of growth for batteries and the current improvements in battery capacity, will there be any need for a fusion plant, given that we won't see one come online for at least 10 to 15 years?
- lukan 1y agoChina is also investing in Fusion https://spectrum.ieee.org/china-nuclear-fusion-reactor https://spectrum.ieee.org/china-nuclear-fusion-reactor In general, I was leaning towards your side, but after learning a bit more about Wendelstein via a german podcast who went there twice https://alternativlos.org/36/ https://alternativlos.org/36/ I believe the time for fusion is indeed near. For the current energy needs, I still would rather invest heavily in solar, wind and battery, though. But recent breakthroughs in superconductors and advancement of computers (confinement of the plasma needs lots of fast calculations) make it seem like a realistic goal to pursure for mid and long term.