Looking at the picture, I wonder if complexity of these devices will significantly be reduced once it finally works. I assume a lot of the bells and whistles are needed to find the way, but once it's found..
I've always been somewhat partial to the stellarator design, I mean a big plasma donut is cool and all, but what if we twisted it around a whole bunch first!?
In any future fusion power plant, a plasma with a high triple product must be maintained for long periods.
I love vague terms like "long periods". Long compared to the Planck length? Geological time? Is the advertised 43 seconds almost there or "off by 17 orders of magnitude?"
This article has zero quantifiable information in it aside from the duration... which has no context. Who's recordkeeping this stuff? What are the other results so far? What is the tipping point where it is net positive? how long does it need to sustain a net positive fusion reaction to produce sufficient power for grid consumption? Are there other losses (thermal generation inefficiencies) that make the target even farther than energy-in<energy-out?
TL;DR - Looks dangerous, but is it? (open question) Can we quantify it or at least make it more tangible?
God, this contraption appears to be the kind of thing I wouldn’t trust my life with. Every time I look at a fusion reactor, it seems far more dangerous than my hobby lab, failing to inspire any confidence. The numerous moving parts create an equal number of potential points of failure. In contrast, a nuclear reactor doesn’t have to contend with plasma gases hotter than the Sun, contained within an artificial bubble solely through the assistance of electromagnetic radiation.
I’ve often tried to imagine the worst case scenario, but I am limited by my knowledge on the subject. What kind of damage can hot plasma at a few million degree C do?
On one hand, the plasma is hotter than anything on earth created by mankind. Then I believe there’s also a significant number of wild neutrons shooting around which can cause havoc in their own right, if not contained. But on the other hand, unlike an uncontrolled chain reaction, without a source of heat, the whole operation shuts off by itself. I’m probably wrong about a few assumptions here but this is what I often find myself wondering.
12 comments
[ 3.6 ms ] story [ 34.4 ms ] threadI love vague terms like "long periods". Long compared to the Planck length? Geological time? Is the advertised 43 seconds almost there or "off by 17 orders of magnitude?"
https://www.ipp.mpg.de/5532945/w7x
(there is some irony in using the iter.org link for a stellarator announcement)
1.8GJ over 360 seconds, beta of 0.03
Especially considering the total budget of it is $340 millions vs ITER's tens of billions.
God, this contraption appears to be the kind of thing I wouldn’t trust my life with. Every time I look at a fusion reactor, it seems far more dangerous than my hobby lab, failing to inspire any confidence. The numerous moving parts create an equal number of potential points of failure. In contrast, a nuclear reactor doesn’t have to contend with plasma gases hotter than the Sun, contained within an artificial bubble solely through the assistance of electromagnetic radiation.
I’ve often tried to imagine the worst case scenario, but I am limited by my knowledge on the subject. What kind of damage can hot plasma at a few million degree C do?
On one hand, the plasma is hotter than anything on earth created by mankind. Then I believe there’s also a significant number of wild neutrons shooting around which can cause havoc in their own right, if not contained. But on the other hand, unlike an uncontrolled chain reaction, without a source of heat, the whole operation shuts off by itself. I’m probably wrong about a few assumptions here but this is what I often find myself wondering.