We've Long Waited for Fusion. This Reactor May Finally Deliver It—Fast.

Comixbooks

Comixbooks

Fully [H]
Joined
Jun 7, 2008
Messages
22,014
“Construction of a reactor, called Sparc, which is being developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a spinoff company, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, is expected to begin next spring and take three or four years, the researchers and company officials said.”
Click to expand...
screen-shot-2020-09-30-at-1-56-23-pm-1601488673.png



https://www.popularmechanics.com/sc...uclear-fusion-compact-reactor-sparc-timeline/
 
Comixbooks said:
https://www.energy.gov/ne/downloads/infographic-fission-vs-fusion-whats-difference

I had to look up the difference between fission and fusion been out of the loop for a while.
Click to expand...
Fission is breaking apart atoms, fusion is joining atoms together. Fission is easy–just throw a bunch of particals at atoms and eventually they'll break apart naturally. Fusion is harder, because atoms are generally already pretty stable, or become stable quickly, and their cores repell each other so just mashing them together generally doesn't work too well.
 
Back when I thought about such things Fission was doable (See: Nuke Plants), Fusion wasn't (See: The Sun?)......at least not in a sustained, controlled way.......noticed the name...Commonwealth Fusion....Immediately thought "Mass Fusion?" from Fallout 4.......
 
1_rick said:
With typical construction delays, then years of testing, I'm guessing this is about ten years away. Just like regular fusion.
Click to expand...
Yeeeup. I'll quickly scan most stories regarding fusion power, think cool I guess then instantly forget them. It's just not worth devoting any of my long-term memory to it until it's for certain sure a viable production-ready energy source.
 
1_rick said:
With typical construction delays, then years of testing, I'm guessing this is about ten years away. Just like regular fusion.
Click to expand...

The joke/adage I've known is it's always 25 years in the future. But, yeah, I really *really* want to be wrong, but we've heard this before. At least ITER is building now!
 
I remember when Popular Mechanics said flying cars were a few year out.... over.20 years ago
 
The same people who freak out about nuclear reactors will freak out about fusion once they hear it's also used in weapons. This is why we can't have anything nice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top