Reply To: Great News!

[Joeviocoe]

asymmetric_implosion wrote:
Ahhh, the cheaper than coal argument. A little history…when fission was the new thing, business models were build around the electricity being free. This was after they demonstrated an actual power generating system. I hope the day comes when fusion is cost competitive with coal. That would be a huge victory. Don’t get me wrong, I like the idea of clean fusion energy. The problem is I’ve been disappointed so many times that I try to approach fusion and other problems as a skeptic and ask questions. I think the LPP approach is as viable as any other fusion concept at this point. I hope they make the breakthrough but it will be a long road after that to a working reactor.

For that, I love this axiom:

“Chindia” price: the price at which India and China would adapt a technology for
economic reasons. “Everything’s a toy until it reaches that point” –Vinod Khosla

The over-promise of fission was fuel in, waste out. Neither of which could truly be mitigated by technology. They were bounded by the physics. Fissile material must be mined and refined, could be proliferated, and is radioactive to handle. That is costly, and is inherent in the physics of the fuel. Same with the waste. Not much can be done about it.

Fusion, aneutronic especially, may be costly to build, but technology can advance enough to cheapen the process… since fuel input is inherently cheap, clean, abundant and safe.. and waste output is just heat and helium. Delicious!