UW fusion reactor concept could be cheaper than coal

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.washington.edu/news/2014/10/08/uw-fusion-reactor-concept-could-be-cheaper-than-coal/

[font face=Serif]October 8, 2014
[font size=5]UW fusion reactor concept could be cheaper than coal[/font]
Michelle Ma
News and Information
[font size=4]Fusion energy almost sounds too good to be true – zero greenhouse gas emissions, no long-lived radioactive waste, a nearly unlimited fuel supply.[/font]

[font size=2]U of Washington

The UW’s current fusion experiment, HIT-SI3. It is about one-tenth the size of the power-producing dynomak concept.[/font]

[font size=3]Perhaps the biggest roadblock to adopting fusion energy is that the economics haven’t penciled out. Fusion power designs aren’t cheap enough to outperform systems that use fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas.

University of Washington engineers hope to change that. They have designed a concept for a fusion reactor that, when scaled up to the size of a large electrical power plant, would rival costs for a new coal-fired plant with similar electrical output.

The team published its reactor design and cost-analysis findings last spring and will present results Oct. 17 at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Fusion Energy Conference in St. Petersburg, Russia.

“Right now, this design has the greatest potential of producing economical fusion power of any current concept,” said Thomas Jarboe, a UW professor of aeronautics and astronautics and an adjunct professor in physics.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2014.03.072

[OnlinePoker]

1. I first heard about fusion in 1970

I was 9 and thought this was the greatest idea ever. And it was only 30 years away. Commercial production, even if they started working on the concept model today is probably still 30 years from now at the least.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. I guess it's pointless to pursue it then…

I mean, we’ll all be dead in 30 years. Right?

[OnlinePoker]

5. Did I say that?

It just seems we hear these pronouncements about fusion every 6 months or so and nothing much comes of it. The ITER project is now expected to cost $50 Billion and isn't expected to begin fusion operations until 2027. This is only a demonstration operation. If successful, how long will it be before actual plants are constructed? ITER is the major international fusion project. It will be interesting to see who (if anybody) comes up with the money for UW to build their test plant to compete against ITER.

[madokie]

3. I keep my fingers crossed for Fusion

A little bit cautious though because I remember when Nuclear made pretty much the same claims back in the '50s

[bananas]

4. How many fusion projects does UW have?

I assumed this was one of John Slough's projects but it isn't.