The Focus Fusion Society Forums Education Q and the Dpf Reply To: Physics Nobel to Big Bangers

#8614
Brian H
Participant

My understanding is that since FF powers itself once initiated, the Q would be infinite. You can’t just count the first “pinch”, since that powers the second and so on. A steady-state reactor (which I personally doubt will ever be achieved on the human scale) requires continuous input to power the super-conducting magnets, etc., that restrain the nasty plasma. Then there’s the overhead of the inefficient extraction of power from the steam cycle, etc.