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A comment on ITER: World's largest nuclear fusion project begins assembly. Parent comment

Re:ITER: World's largest nuclear fusion project begins assembly by ArtWomb on Tuesday July 28, 2020 @08:15PM (#23982121)
>>> small scale reactors

I believe this is the DoE position. Leverage AI/ML to design smaller magnetic confinement. With the goal toward commercialized products and partnerships.

JET was on track to breakeven. And I think most of the researchers involved believe they would have gotten there if the funding hadn't been cut. I think what they want is simply long term commitments. The sort of thing that is risky in fiscal budgets that can change year to year ;)

Final Report of the Committee on a Strategic Plan for U.S.Burning Plasma Research (2018)

http://brookhaventech.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Burning...

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Re:ITER: World's largest nuclear fusion project begins assembly by maccam94 on Wednesday July 29, 2020 @05:15AM (#23984824)
You don't need AI, just use stronger magnets[1]. ITER was conceived before high temperature superconducting magnets were discovered, so it has more trouble maintaining plasma stability.

1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkpqA8yG9T4&t=39m0s

MIT-affiliated company building a reactor using these magnets: https://cfs.energy/technology

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Re:ITER: World's largest nuclear fusion project begins assembly by pfdietz on Wednesday July 29, 2020 @07:00AM (#23985345)
These reactor concepts are still very large for their power output, compared to fission reactors.
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