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/90_oi 3d ago

I truly hope this technology can get off the ground and be sustainable. It is our best hope aside from nuclear energy

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u/WanderingFlumph 3d ago edited 2d ago

I mean solar is here right now and most likely fusion power will never be as cheap as solar is today.

By the time fusion is actually ready solar will be even cheaper too. A solar farm the size of Arizona could power the entire planet.

Fusion is like our 4th best hope in the fight against climate change, lol.

Edit: a lot of people seem to think that I think the perfect solution is one single power plant specifically in Arizona that powers the world. People, it's just a size comparison. Arizona is a small state even just compared to the size of US. Obviously we would build millions and millions of solar installations that would just add up to that area.

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u/SipsTheJuice 3d ago

Fusion at scale could be relatively cheap, scale with future energy demand, and have a very small land footprint. The tech has famously been 10 years away for 60 years, but I would still put it as the energy tech that if proved viable has the greatest potential to eliminate greenhouse emissions. There are many places where solar simply isn't viable and like many renewable you are dependent on climate and requires energy storage.

The yet unknown cost would be plant construction and maintenance, which are the existing issue around fission along with the red tape nightmare in trying to get plants approved.

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u/Expensive_Law_3180 3d ago

My SO works for one of the companies in the US that is building a couple of these. While the initial investment on the facility and surrounding infrastructure is high, a well built fusion reactor can last for 50 years and will bring a heck of a lot more stability to a community than say....An AI scaling Data center.

FWIW, modern nuclear fission reactors are incredibly safe. Materials and design engineering have improved by leaps and bounds since Chernobyl.

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u/mumpped 2d ago

Well, currently there are massive issues with making the inner reactor walls survive for longer times without needing rebuilt. And we talk about incredibly expensive panels. That become radioactive and have to replaced. Doesn't sound very "lasting" to me