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What's the status of fusion energy? (not "CF")
So, I know that fusion as an energy source has hit a lull of sorts. Could somebody fill me in on a few points (and correct any misconceptions I reveal in my questions). I'm working on a motivational lecture for my high school students, and I'd like to get things right. Note: I do not want anyone to talk about "cold fusion" in this thread.
So the ongoing problem is that fusion creates temperatures at tens of millions of degrees, and therefore is very hard to contain. The particles are held in intense electromagnetic fields that require more energy to create than is released by the reaction. I learned this when I got my degree 20 years ago, and this is still the standard story now. So what's been going on for two decades?
An associate of mine mentioned that when supercomputers get a few more orders of magnitude faster, we might build more accurate computer simulations of possible reaction situations. Sounded OK to me; Any validity to this conjecture?
Is there a theoretical certainty that people are working towards, or are we still stabbing away at things? Are we waiting for a technological breakthrough ('unobtanium" or something).
I'd appreciate any info or links. Thanks n advance.
So, I know that fusion as an energy source has hit a lull of sorts. Could somebody fill me in on a few points (and correct any misconceptions I reveal in my questions). I'm working on a motivational lecture for my high school students, and I'd like to get things right. Note: I do not want anyone to talk about "cold fusion" in this thread.
So the ongoing problem is that fusion creates temperatures at tens of millions of degrees, and therefore is very hard to contain. The particles are held in intense electromagnetic fields that require more energy to create than is released by the reaction. I learned this when I got my degree 20 years ago, and this is still the standard story now. So what's been going on for two decades?
An associate of mine mentioned that when supercomputers get a few more orders of magnitude faster, we might build more accurate computer simulations of possible reaction situations. Sounded OK to me; Any validity to this conjecture?
Is there a theoretical certainty that people are working towards, or are we still stabbing away at things? Are we waiting for a technological breakthrough ('unobtanium" or something).
I'd appreciate any info or links. Thanks n advance.