Nuclear fusion is 'a question of when, not if'

Re:Nuclear fusion is 'a question of when, not if' by pfdietz on Wednesday November 06, 2019 @08:23AM (#21462220)

Cost of ITER: $100/W(e) (assuming its gross fusion power was converted to electric power at 40% efficiency)

Installed cost of utility scale solar: about $1/W and falling

The cost of fusion (or fission) is so grossly uncompetitive that any use seems unlikely.

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Re:Nuclear fusion is 'a question of when, not if' by throwaway122379 on Wednesday November 06, 2019 @03:41PM (#21466989)

There used to be a time when it was cheaper to pay people to perform calculations by hand than to build computers to do so ...

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Re:Nuclear fusion is 'a question of when, not if' by pfdietz on Wednesday November 06, 2019 @03:48PM (#21467057)

There is no reason to think such cost decline will apply to fusion reactors. Many of the parts in the system are mature (like, all the non nuclear parts like turbines.)

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Re:Nuclear fusion is 'a question of when, not if' by ahje on Thursday November 07, 2019 @02:08AM (#21471095)

I'm hopeful that the research might bear fruit at some point, so I am glad to see it continue. We definitely shouldn't put all eggs in one basket, though.

We don't have a finished design yet, so who knows what parts are needed (yeah, a turbine is a given, but still...)?

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Re:Nuclear fusion is 'a question of when, not if' by pfdietz on Thursday November 07, 2019 @12:44PM (#21475336)

Hope is not a plan, especially when that hope has proved illusory so many times in the past.

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