DEMO: A sustainable fusion power plant

[bascule]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEMO

 

DEMO is a power plant whose conceptual design is set to be completed in 2017 (following lessons learned from ITER) and construction set to complete some time around 2033.

 

The goal of the power plant is to continually produce approximately 2 gigawatts of electricity, and demonstrate the practical feasibility of fusion power as an energy source.

[SH3RL0CK]

This is very good news. Very good news indeed, I don't think the advantages (no CO2 emissions, no shortage of fuel, etc.) can be understated.

 

IIRC, back in the 1950's (nearly sixty years ago) fusion power was said to become developed for comercial use within 50 years...of course as we now know, using fusion to generate electricity is much more difficult than it appeared then. Glad to see we are actually making progess and its now only 24 years away

[JillSwift]

Cwap. "Only 24 years" is easy for you spring chickens. I wanted to see fusion power come to fruition, but I probably won't live that long

 

Never the less, it's fantastic to hear that nuclear fusion has been getting the attention it deserves, and I hope for its success.

[InigoMontoya]

Meh....

 

I'll believe it when I see it. Fusion has been "25 years away" for 50+ years now. I suspect that when I die it will still be "25 years away."

[Dave Cell]

The problem with hearing these "25 year" comments is that, as Inigo said, the 25 years never gets any smaller and they are never clear on if that means a reliable plant or an entire infrastructure.

 

People have high expectations for reliability (at least in the US). We are very spoiled in this regard. I know how hard it is to keep conventional fossil fuel and nuclear plants running with almost no down time. I can't imagine the kind of reliability nightmare a fusion plant would represent.

[bascule]

People have high expectations for reliability (at least in the US). We are very spoiled in this regard. I know how hard it is to keep conventional fossil fuel and nuclear plants running with almost no down time. I can't imagine the kind of reliability nightmare a fusion plant would represent.

 

It's still far too early to judge how reliable commercial fusion plants will be in comparison to others.

 

Thanks to technological improvements collectively called the "smart grid", energy companies are doing a much better job of making use of intermittent energy sources, such as wind power.

 

By the time fusion power is commercialized, the "smart grid" will have evolved considerably. I wouldn't worry too much about the usefulness of any technology, even if it needs regular maintenance that results in downtime.