Nuclear fusion UK JET laboratory breakthrough?

[Val]

BBC this week:

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

UK scientists collaborating with European scientists? But… but…!
#DespiteBrexit.


This article puts it all quite well too. I guess it’s like lighting a fire. At some point ignition becomes sustained and the effort put in to starting it off is forgotten. If only we could keep it going, but it seems worthwhile because fusion would be safer than fission.

[ThunderGuts]

I do think a safe and effective way of harnessing fusion is possibly one of the only effective ways of managing the energy demands of our planet if we're to move away from fossil fuels completely. Solar, wind, wave etc. etc. are all good and well, but they just don't produce enough energy.
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TG.

[arry]

[pepperami]

I suppose you could metaphorically see it like this.

When man first rubbed two sticks together, he expended an awful lot of energy to get a tiny ember. (How the research is now)
However once he added the ember to the tinder , he got fire, ie more energy/warmth (what we are aiming for in the future).

This could be the first flashpoint (spark) of a new dawn.

My point being, this is the first step, we will get there, more than likely.
I doubt we will see it in our lifetime, just try to imagine the hugely complex issues the research team will need to resolve before this technology becomes viable or manageable.


After all, if you lived in the 1930’s and someone told you that man can produce one bomb that could destroy an entire city, you’d have laughed.
And if they told you that man could then tame that bomb and use the process to produce household electricity, you’d have laughed even more.
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[ThunderGuts]

Very true. I find this sort of thing far more exciting than anything "tech related" (although clearly there is an overlap and the advancements with fusion would never happen with the tech advancements). With a reliable source of energy like fusion, so much could suddenly be possible. Clearly we could massively improve things on Earth, but other stuff could be feasible too, like lunar occupation for example - OK, so getting there might be challenging unless we can develop a new method of propulsion, but once there a fusion reactor could provide all the energy needed for heating, light, processing carbon dioxide into oxygen, supporting crops etc.. - the next 50 years (if I live that long) could be fascinating.
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TG.

[MCN]

[Ribenapigeon]

I have a theory.

[stinkwheel]

4% of the UKs energy needs are already provided directly by nuclear fusion.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

[Jmoan]

What's the sticking point with fusion power?
Is it the technology to shape the magnet fields or whatever else that's holding it in place that needs work on or the physics behind the fusion itself?

[Nobby the Bastard]

The sticking point is getting more energy out than is going in (i.e. self sustaining)
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Sprint ST 1050

[Islander]