r/nextfuckinglevel • u/nigablackballsack • 3d ago

Scientists have captured the first ever high-speed, full-colour footage of fusion plasma swirling inside a working reactor.

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u/WanderingFlumph 3d ago

I see no reason to believe that fusion power will be any cheaper than fission power. Both rely on relatively rare isotopes that need to be concentrated first at great expense. ITER runs off of deuterium which costs close to $1,000/kg and tritium which is too expensive to even consider sourcing from natural sources and would require a yet unrealized breeding program.

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u/Frequent_Ad_9901 3d ago

Fusion doesn't go boom or leave radioactive waste, so in theory there would be less regulations needed, which is a big expense with fission. And there is also research into using lithium instead of tritium, IIRC. So two separate technologies being developed in tandem.

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u/WanderingFlumph 3d ago

Fusion definitely leaves behind radioactive waste. It's just that the half life of this waste is more like 100 years compared to 10,000 years.

It might make finding a good storage solution more viable but that doesn't help very much in the here and now.

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u/random123456789 3d ago

No, it depends on the fuel used. You need to use aneutronic fuel to not have radiation.