Reply To: Repowering the electric utility industry

[asymmetric_implosion]

I agree with Joe’s comment up to point of “eliminating most concerns”. As with fission, fusion could find unexpected and unintended consequences that drive up costs. I agree that radioactive consequences are far less likely with the 11B-p reaction depending upon the choice of materials around the pinch, other concerns could crop up. I don’t have a crystal ball but I can tell you from operating PF devices and other pulse power devices that something always seems to come up that was unexpected or unintended. I admit that some unintended and unexpected things were quite wonderful while others were very disappointing. For example, high repetition rate devices tend to very loud and can shake the ground. Probably fine for a boat but on a truck it might require extra resources in excess of radiation shielding. On the upside we’ve noticed that operating at higher temperatures improves the fusion yield so increasing the repetition rate might lead to lower currents and the same fusion yield per shot.

If you are investing in this technology do it because you believe the problems can be solved. If you believe the problems are solved, I think you will be disappointed with the lack of return on investment.