A real development in fusion power generation or just another step on the path ?

[studiot]

Article about Tokomaks in Britain and America

Interestingly set in the business section, not the science section of the BBC.

However it does offer some useful up to date facts and figures.

Quote

Mind-boggling magnets could unlock plentiful power

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56843149

Edited May 11, 2021 by studiot

[exchemist]

1 hour ago, studiot said:

Article about Tokomaks in Britain and America

Interestingly set in the business section, not the science section of the BBC.

However it does offer some useful up to date facts and figures.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56843149

Yes. But in the end, what's new here is just a magnet. This has been "jam tomorrow" ever since I was a kid. I remember the ZETA torus (for some reason not called a tokamak, though it looked to me like one), with its promise of limitless power, just around the corner. And now I'm over 65 - and people are still designing magnets for toruses, with the promise of limitless power just around the corner...... 

Like everyone, I hope we are getting closer, but history makes me sceptical. 

[StringJunky]

12 minutes ago, exchemist said:

Yes. But in the end, what's new here is just a magnet. This has been "jam tomorrow" ever since I was a kid. I remember the ZETA torus (for some reason not called a tokamak, though it looked to me like one), with its promise of limitless power, just around the corner. And now I'm over 65 - and people are still designing magnets for toruses, with the promise of limitless power just around the corner...... 

Like everyone, I hope we are getting closer, but history makes me sceptical. 

As long as there's people enthusiastic about it there's hope.

[dimreepr]

16 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

As long as there's people enthusiastic about it there's hope.

Really? We're trying to create a sun here on earth; normally we're trying to scale up to get something for (almost) nothing; I don't see how scaling down, is any more viable...

Just another step on the path...