Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Mechanic
Yes but they fudged it with the statement that only about 1% of the energy directed to the fuel was utilized, so they have a long way to go to a self sustaining reaction that is controllable, with recoverable energy.
It only needed to be over 1% of the consumed energy to justify the claim which is a long way from a net producer of energy.
I think they have predicted a battery breakthrough longer than I have been alive. It just feeds scepticism. I believe we will see fusion energy generation, but probably not in my lifetime.
regards
Mech
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This, by definition, is a laboratory success. It is still a long way from practical fusion and researchers admit this. However, steps such as this are needed to understand the path to practicality.
This method ( implosion ignition ) along with plasma heating are prohibitively expensive. But the understanding may yield a method not yet perused. Yes, it may not happen in our lifetimes, but then again, we may find something that accelerates the practicality.