Nuclear fusion

[Seeker]

For the first time (on Earth) a fusion reaction has produced a net gain in power.

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/us-scientists-achieve-holy-grail-231150132.html

Sounds good but remember the old joke: "whatever the decade of the publication, nuclear fusion is always about 20 years away". They have been pursuing this since the 1950s.

Livermore uses 192 lasers focused on a small pellet (500 trillion watts of peak power, 2 million joules of UV energy).
https://lasers.llnl.gov/

Most other fusion experiments use a Tokamak reactor vessel which needs powerful magnetic fields to contain the plasma. ITER in France will be that type.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokamak

[Craig380]

Unfortunate choice of words from Todd Allen, professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Michigan: “I don’t know in the end if these are the technologies that catch fire or not ..."

Let's hope that they don't, eh? ;)

[Seeker]

Unfortunate choice of words from Todd Allen, professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Michigan: “I don’t know in the end if these are the technologies that catch fire or not ..."

Let's hope that they don't, eh? ;)

Always use the fire to heat water and drive a turbine... :rolleyes:

[Craig380]

Indeed, I meant more in the 'Number 4 reactor at Chernobyl' sense :)