Exactly. Taking the high road now will set a precedent that could turn "lawmakers" back into statesmen and by devolving federal powers back to the states is the path that will make the Republicans more more likely to appeal to swing voters and put some "conservation" back into conservatives. Great post.
Private investors sunk two billion dollars into this humbug. They might be naive, but they have real skin in the game.
The change which makes fusion potentially real is superior superconductors. They have achieved much higher magnet strengths than were used for prior research reactors and those magnets are cooled by liquid nitrogen, not liquid helium. The price difference between liquid nitrogen and liquid helium is enormous.
But yes, we should carry on with advanced fission research and deployment. The burden of proof is still on team fusion.
Doesn't sound like you really believe fusion "may be just around the corner." Development and buildout of industrial scale energy technologes requires generations. Not only of people, but also the technology.
I find it hard to believe the drop in solar cell prices -- but they did happen.
Fusion has been a government research thing for decades. Private money with serious plans for building commercial plants is very new. Whether it leads to real successful deployment in the promised timeframes is still TBD, so yes, we should continue with fission development.
Once we get that first commercial fusion plant going, however, deployment will happen much faster than with fission. Much fewer safety concerns. Yes, fusion reactors create short term radioactive waste but we're looking at transmuted light metals like copper and iron, vs. plutonium isotopes. And there is zero nuclear bomb proliferation issues.
Thank you for the Solomon quote.
Exactly. Taking the high road now will set a precedent that could turn "lawmakers" back into statesmen and by devolving federal powers back to the states is the path that will make the Republicans more more likely to appeal to swing voters and put some "conservation" back into conservatives. Great post.
Very wise. Gloating never wins anyone to your side.
Nuclear fusion being "just around the corner" is an utterly naive humbug. And a psyop to attack nuclear fission and natural gas.
Private investors sunk two billion dollars into this humbug. They might be naive, but they have real skin in the game.
The change which makes fusion potentially real is superior superconductors. They have achieved much higher magnet strengths than were used for prior research reactors and those magnets are cooled by liquid nitrogen, not liquid helium. The price difference between liquid nitrogen and liquid helium is enormous.
But yes, we should carry on with advanced fission research and deployment. The burden of proof is still on team fusion.
Doesn't sound like you really believe fusion "may be just around the corner." Development and buildout of industrial scale energy technologes requires generations. Not only of people, but also the technology.
I find it hard to believe the drop in solar cell prices -- but they did happen.
Fusion has been a government research thing for decades. Private money with serious plans for building commercial plants is very new. Whether it leads to real successful deployment in the promised timeframes is still TBD, so yes, we should continue with fission development.
Once we get that first commercial fusion plant going, however, deployment will happen much faster than with fission. Much fewer safety concerns. Yes, fusion reactors create short term radioactive waste but we're looking at transmuted light metals like copper and iron, vs. plutonium isotopes. And there is zero nuclear bomb proliferation issues.