We're an order of magnitude away from producing electricity. "Break even" refers to thermal break even. Heat into the reactor equals heat produced through fusion. If you take into account how much electricity the rest of the plant takes (all the superconducting magnets, heaters/lasers, etc.) plus the efficiency of the steam turbines and generators, the energy input is dramatically higher. 5x to 10x higher if you want to go from thermal break even to electrical break even. We are far, far away from fusion power.Quote:
Originally Posted by Duke_of_URL
Fusion also pukes out a ton of neutron radiation. This is bad. This causes neutron activation in materials, which makes them become radioactive. You get radiation embrittlement of the reactor lining which periodically need to be replaced. So much so that fusion power will cause more radioactive waste than fission power.
Fusion plants are far, far more expensive than fission plants, and we're not seeing any new fission plants being built. In fact, they're being mothballed.
I personally don't think we'll see fusion power in our lifetimes. Between the poor economics and the fact that they produce so much radioactive waste. Nope. Won't happen.
