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Looking at the fact there are currently no active electricity generating fusion power plants, and we do not know which technology will "win", how likely is this
by nemo136 2y ago
Looking at the fact there are currently no active electricity generating fusion power plants, and we do not know which technology will "win", how likely is this a waste of money ? Or am I missing a point ?
- WithinReason 2y agoYou need fuel to conduct experiments
- lucozade 2y agoMost experimental approaches to fusion use a deuterium-tritium reaction. It's not the only possibility but it's not a wild bet that tritium will be needed whichever fusion tech wins. And as tritium has a relatively short half life, it makes sense to research ways to generate, recycle and store it. There's no reason to wait for a self-sustaining reactor to be online before you start to research other technologies that would be needed for a commercially viable setup. There's no obvious reason why this shouldn't be done in parallel. The value of the basic research aside, it strikes me that it's as least as valuable as any current fusion research.
- FriedPickles 2y agoThe article discusses only the peaceful uses. But tritium must also be constantly replenished in the h-bomb arsenal due to its half life of ~12 years.