2 ms·
> A rocket only needs to achieve thermal break-even. A power plant needs to achieve electrical break-even ... Yes, all true. But if a fusion reactor ever achie
by lutusp 14y ago
> A rocket only needs to achieve thermal break-even. A power plant needs to achieve electrical break-even ...
Yes, all true. But if a fusion reactor ever achieved break-even, that would be such a breakthrough that the specifics would be reduced to footnotes, and both thermal and electrical applications would soon follow.
> In this way a system can be simultaneously useful for space travel but useless for power generation.
My point is that if break-even were to be achieved, it would be break-even for both applications. The reason is that the plasma conditions for fusion break-even would have much more in common in the two cases than the differences.