Reply To: EmDrive + Focus Fusion = Space Access for all?

[Brian H]

Lerner wrote: A 5 MW reactor takes about 5 kg of fuel per year. For an experiment, we purchased decaborane for $5 per gram or $5,000/kg. At that price fuel costs would be $25,000/yr or 0.05 cents/kWh. Electricity now costs about 5 cents/kWh.

Actually, these prices are based on the fact that decaborane is sold in very small quantities. It would be much cheaper with mass production. In the 1950�s the government considered using it as a chemical rocket fuel, which takes many tons. I am sure they did not anticipate paying $5 million per ton for it.

Boron is not in short supply. About 500,000 tons are produce per year for a price of about $700/ton. Since each GW of focus fusion power takes a ton per year of boron, the entire current world production of energy would only consume about 10,000 tons per year. If, in the far future, we ran short, we can get boron from seawater. Total resources would last billions of years at current rates.

Just to get that down to the level of the generator, 1 ton at $700 = $0.70/kg, = $3.50 per generator/year, rather than $25,000. You can be sure that FF owners would become bulk purchasers! So the cost per kwh drops to $0.000007 or 0.0007¢ (about 1/1400 ¢) or 1 cent for every 1400 kWh.