Re:Compact nuclear fusion reactor is 'very likely to work,' ...
by Retric on Wednesday September 30, 2020 @07:33AM
(#24637636)
Significantly less security concerns. No need for a massive containment vessel or massive redundant safety systems. Likely cheaper fuel and no long term high level nuclear waste. A smaller percentage of the reactor becomes contaminated. Lower insurance costs.
D is already cheap and even used by fission reactors. Extracting T from the blanket is presumably inexpensive, and one of the things ITER will test, but that’s an unknown. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeding_blanket The real question is how expensive the physical reactor is going to be to build and maintain and does that offset the other savings. It’s expected for that cost to drop over time which is why it’s possible to eventually be cheaper than fission.
Finally, DT is easiest to achieve at a 50/50 ratio but DD fusion still takes place. So a lower mix of T is viable once very high Q values are possible, thus eventually zero T designs should be viable.
D is already cheap and even used by fission reactors. Extracting T from the blanket is presumably inexpensive, and one of the things ITER will test, but that’s an unknown. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeding_blanket The real question is how expensive the physical reactor is going to be to build and maintain and does that offset the other savings. It’s expected for that cost to drop over time which is why it’s possible to eventually be cheaper than fission.
Finally, DT is easiest to achieve at a 50/50 ratio but DD fusion still takes place. So a lower mix of T is viable once very high Q values are possible, thus eventually zero T designs should be viable.