Reply To: T-shirt designers unite and take over

[Rematog]

Being under NRC regulation may, or may not, be “regulating it out of existance”.

My opinion is that it will be somewhere in between the extremes. They will require some things that add to the cost, but not so much as to more than double or triple the cost. Not enought to kill by anymeans.

Thinking about the fuel being a neurotoxin. How powerful? Is it a gas at atmospheric temperature and pressure? If it is truely dangerous, that alone is a strong arguement against unattended, distributed deployment. (Not just concerned about accidental release, but preventing theft and mis-use).

As Focus Fusion Power block become more common, and develops a proved safety record, risks become will be more understood and accepted by the public, then it will become more of a caniadate for urban use. But I don’t understand the big need for it to be used completely distributed and unattended, except in possible special cercumstances.

I could see Power Blocks being used as back-up power for hospitals, etc. They would likely then contract out the maintenance. But this kind of urban use would only be accepted by the general public after a large number of years to a safe track record.

Focus Fusion can provide very cheap energy, and the grid can be supplied by multiple “nodes”, beginning by repowering existing sites, progressing to new facalities progressively closer to loads as the technology becomes accepted and proven safe. It can be used for large scale desalination projects, power clean metals production and either directly charge electric vehicle, or be used to produce fuel for vehicles, either H2 or some varity of synthetic liquid fuel, and be used provide the energy needed to make fertilizer and pump irrigating water…none of these uses require unattended distributed use.

With time, costs will come down, and a wider varity of users will emerge. But, even if a power block drops to $250k fully installed cost, how many individuals would have, or spend on a power source, that much money. Remember too, most user do not want to deal with utilities (which is what power is, just like water and sewer). Think about it, almost no one in areas served by city water and sewer opt to install a well and septic system. Simplier, easier and actually cheaper (economies of scale) to let an specialist deal with it.