Fusion News, November 27, 2024

[@jjeherrera]

2:51 Considering ITER won't be achieving Q>1 before 2035, and it isn't designed to produce electric power, FAST shows Japan (and others) have convinced themselves that we can't wait for the ITER-DEMO roadmap.

[@vernonbrechin4207]

Many of the experimental efforts have given up waiting for ITER to add to their knowledge base to help them along. Many fans assume that one of the other numerous competing technological approaches is bound to achieve a commercially practical source of fusion energy within the next 1.5 decades. The fans have been left with the impression that if enough billions of USD are thrown at a project that they are bound to overcome the problems that have been plaguing the field since the experiments began in the 1950s. Billions have been invested in cancer research over the last half-century and yet there still is no general cure. ITER is grossly over its original budget and well over a decade behind its original schedule. It has become to big to cancel, a lesson that makes many investor's mouth's water. If you closely examine the recent ITER announcement you will learn that they don't expect to begin their 1st D-T fusion experiments until 2039, not 2035. They can't produce any significant fraction of a Q-plasma value until they transition from plasma heating experiments to D-T fueled experiments. They also can't begin their tritium breeding experiments until they reach significant fusion energy generation levels. It has become an intuitional process to mislead journalists, the general public and investors with their special definition of the Q value. They always are referring to the Q-plasma value which tends to involve an input energy value that is a tiny fraction of the energy needed to power the experimental facilities. In pulsed fusion devices, which includes virtually all tokamak-type devices when operating near their full fusion energy levels, the Q-plasma value only applies to the short period of time the reactor is in its 'ON' state and generating fusion energy. A more accurate evaluation criteria would be Q-total which compares the input energy to operate the facility to the output energy derived from the fusion reactions, all averaged over a day of the experiment. The record breaking fusion energy achievements, today, are many orders of magnitude away from anything close to an economically practical fusion energy electrical generating pilot power plant. The sales promoters have left the funders with the impression that these efforts are very close to achieving economic practicality.

[@bluefox3634]

Thanks, Dr Cyd, a great edition!

[@michaeldeeth811]

Dr. Cyd Cowley's podcasts are a breath of fresh air in the world that is speeding toward gloom and doom. His enthusiasm is infectious, and his presentations are always uplifting and bubbling over with optimism. ☢

[@vernonbrechin4207]

Many people have found value in immersing themselves in the technical dreams provided by hope peddlers.

[@patrickmchargue7122]

In other not-covered news, Lawrenceville Plasma started Proton-Boron fusion tests.

[@vernonbrechin4207]

This commenter is likely referring to LPPFusion and their extremely slick sales pitch which claims that their fusion approach is simple to achieve and will solve virtually all our energy problems. Typical fans tend to have no desire to critically probe into such claims. Ask yourself if their experimental program has generated any peer reviewed articles that have appeared in highly respected scientific journals. Ask if any of their experiments have achieved even a fusion energy output above one miliwatt-hour of thermal, or electrical energy at any time. Ask how long their longest plasma confinement time has lasted and how much energy was supplied to the facility during any day they claim to have generated fusion energy. Keep in mind that the Q-plasma value only applies to the 'ON' time in pulsed fusion reactors.

[@EricAllen8494]

Any update on Helion Energy?

[@tdk99-i8n]

The update is they are continuing to string along investors with empty Instagram posts until someone smarter than their team figures out their neutron flux problems

[@Aedonius]

​@@tdk99-i8n They are making a mistake if they think they can depend on neutron fluxes as an indicator of fusion. They use compressed plasmoids which become exotic vacuum objects. These can fuse atoms without neutron emission. Exotic vacuum objects are not well understood.

[@vernonbrechin4207]

@@tdk99-i8n Helion Energy's CEO David Kirtley is a master sales pitchman who has been proven to be wrong on past progress predictions for some of their many experimental devices. The 6th generation Tantra machine engaged in around 20,000 experimental shots. Not one of the best produced a highly significant quantity of fusion reactions. Their sales pitched fail to mention that they have yet to generate even a single watt-hour of fusion energy reactions. Previously they claimed that their 7th generation machine, Polaris, would be generating fusion energy electrical energy by the end of 2024. I await any claims that the machine is even completed yet. Typically, investors tend to be clueless about the technical details and tend to rely upon fusion energy experimenter fans for any 'critical assessments' of the developing technology.

[@pete_dl1585]

good stuff. the pace of research is accelerating. Shame this was not happening 25 years ago :)

[@vernonbrechin4207]

It was too late long ago. We are surrounded by billions who simply can't accept that. They flock to sources that tend to tell them what they prefer to hear. Virtually all nuclear energy promoters, are in line with the vast majority of Earth's other 8.0+ billion humans, who continue to assume that we still have at least 20 years left to turn this 'Titanic' around using their favorite nuclear technology. They have become masterful in excluding the following warnings from their consciousness. I urge readers to search for the following two article titles. IPCC report: ‘now or never’ if world is to stave off climate disaster (TheGuardian) UN chief: World has less than 2 years to avoid 'runaway climate change' (TheHill) * This statement was made 5.8 years ago.

[@HiAdrian]

Thanks for the update Cyd!

[@spr1334]

So, When we getting it down the wires?

[@apollo8352]

When we transition to fussion energy and start generating enough to do some serious terofforming. Is all the excess energy being created expected to cause any global heating problems?

[@Chris.Davies]

Eric Lerner at LPPFusion, and Eric Lander at Pacific Fusion sound like they should meet! I am certain pulsed fusion reactors are the correct answer.

[@michaeldeeth811]

In Cyd's 3rd story, The Quest to Build a Star on Earth, Dr. Cowley commented about fusion start-ups, "there's an awful lot of supercharged hype." When people don't deliver, the consequences will be worrisome. 😞

[@vernonbrechin4207]

Ask yourself if and when the failed efforts will ever be held accountable for wasting vast amounts of resources that could be better spent on deploying immediate adaptations such as wind and solar energy farms. ITER is now grossly over its original budget and over a decade behind its original schedule. It's first D-T fusion experiments are not expected to happen before 2039, with its tritium blanket experiments beyond that. It continues to be funded because it has become to enormous to cancel. Many experimenters are aware of how to get their foot in the door so they too will be unlikely to be defunded.

[@kylev.8248]

What a beautiful human

[@johnh6245]

And where do all these amazing finance boosted firms plan to source their tritium to get their marvellous reactors started?

[@vernonbrechin4207]

Excellent point. Since the controlled nuclear fusion experiments began in the 1950s the journalists, the general public and the funders have been given the impression that the hydrogen fuel is virtually limitless. Most of the workers, in the field, have also swallowed this lie and never bothered to inquire into the reality of the situation. Cleverly, the details have been kept from them to keep their morale up. The fact has always been that the tritium component of D-T fuel is both radioactive and extremely rare. The current market value is above $30,000 per gram and expected to become increasingly expensive. The sales hype, in response to the current rarity is always that once a commercially practical fusion power plant becomes operational they will be designed to generate their own tritium supply. That, in itself, will be a major challenge that might not create a self-supply for many decades to come. Any critic, who looks into this issue will come to realize that very few experimental facilities have ever employed tritium in their experiments despite constant references to the machine being referred to as a 'fusion reactor.' The sales hype has become endemic in the field, led by people who are likely to claim that they are not deliberately trying to mislead anyone.

[@digitalplayland]

Amazing. No news.

[@dissaid]

☕️🇺🇲

[@Aedonius]

Cold Fusion is the way. It is what Helion is based off of. Compressed plasmoids or exotic vacuum objects. It has been proven over and over again if you pay attention to the right areas, for example, The Martin Fleischmann Memorial Project. One project specifically is by Bin Juine Huang in Taiwan who put out a paper at beginning of the year in Nature SR regarding his cavitation based reactor.. He is currently in the process of scaling to a commercial plant.

[@MattNolanCustom]

dude, your word salad is missing some croutons

[@vernonbrechin4207]

Many people are enamored by technical jargon, especially those who have little incentive to critically examine the claims and those who simply don't have the deep technical background needed to read and understand the peer-reviewed technical papers on the topics that they have become fans of.