I researched energy bigly back in high school, when it was the national debate topic. After reading article after article about how fusion was just around the corner, I am not surprised that it is still just around the corner. Placing superconducting magnets next to a heat source from running gas turbines is tricky. And there are other i…
I researched energy bigly back in high school, when it was the national debate topic. After reading article after article about how fusion was just around the corner, I am not surprised that it is still just around the corner. Placing superconducting magnets next to a heat source from running gas turbines is tricky. And there are other issues.
On the other hand, we use only a small fraction of the fissionables that we have already mined. Figure our how to breed U238 or thorium safely and we have enough power to last for centuries before needing fusion.
With proper regulation and a culture of competence, nuclear is safer than solar. Petr Beckmann wrote a book on the subject decades ago. Today, see B.F. Randall;s Mining Atoms Substack. https://bfrandall.substack.com/
I researched energy bigly back in high school, when it was the national debate topic. After reading article after article about how fusion was just around the corner, I am not surprised that it is still just around the corner. Placing superconducting magnets next to a heat source from running gas turbines is tricky. And there are other issues.
On the other hand, we use only a small fraction of the fissionables that we have already mined. Figure our how to breed U238 or thorium safely and we have enough power to last for centuries before needing fusion.
With proper regulation and a culture of competence, nuclear is safer than solar. Petr Beckmann wrote a book on the subject decades ago. Today, see B.F. Randall;s Mining Atoms Substack. https://bfrandall.substack.com/
You and I must be about the same age, as I also researched energy policy when I was on the debate team.
Fusion has been 20 years away from commercialization for the past 50 years, and will likely be that way for the next 50 years.
I own a copy of Beckmann's "Health Hazards of NOT Going Nuclear". Fun stuff.