Wendelstein 7-X fusion reactor switched on succesfully - Polidicks

[QUOTE=Radical_ed;49307417]Would it, though? Once we understand how to effectively produce these things, the amount of energy that may be harnessed is absolutely enormous I'm not sure about the elements required to produce the reaction, however.[/QUOTE] It's not really a question of cost, it's a question of how long will it take to make a few hundred of these within the next century. I'm probably just being a negative shit about it, but it will definitely be a challenge to mass produce these in great enough numbers to power the entire world, just because of how unimaginably complicated this design is.

Still kinda a fan of solar, Because i don't really know what the possible pollution would be from a fusion reactor beyond the massive amounts of radiation.

[QUOTE=Passing;49309801]Still kinda a fan of solar, Because i don't really know what the possible pollution would be from a fusion reactor beyond the massive amounts of radiation.[/QUOTE] Basically no pollution unless you consider helium to be harmful. Solar cells are produced in big factories that use hazardous chemicals that are simply discarded as chemical waste. Fusion reactors do produce some radioactive waste in the form of irradiated reactor components. But that has such a short half-life that will be harmless in only a few hundred years, vs tens of thousands for fission reactor waste. Even then, it's still a tiny amount compared to the huge quantities of chemical waste generated by a solar cell factory.

[QUOTE=Toro;49307846]what pollution would this release (if any)? would it literally just release helium after its done?[/QUOTE] just package it and start a global birthday balloon industry, problem solved. elect me as environmental world president

[QUOTE=RopaDope;49309895]just package it and start a global birthday balloon industry, problem solved. elect me as environmental world president[/QUOTE] IIRC there's actually a worldwide helium shortage, so yeah that might just work.

[QUOTE=Pilotguy97;49309924]IIRC there's actually a worldwide helium shortage, so yeah that might just work.[/QUOTE] Only a shortage because we stopped manufacturing helium some time ago. They can make more easily.

[QUOTE=RopaDope;49309895]just package it and start a global birthday balloon industry, problem solved. elect me as environmental world president[/QUOTE] Except it will be radioactive... Not like nuclear waste but you're talking about tons of neutron collisions, some by products will be formed [editline]13th December 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Code3Response;49310481]Only a shortage because we stopped manufacturing helium some time ago. They can make more easily.[/QUOTE] No its not that simple. Helium occurs in gas fields that have uranium deposits in them, most fields don't, the US happened to have a super large one in the Midwest, so what they did before ww2 was not only pull helium from the wells there, they started injecting it for storage, however in the 90s congress passed an insane law that demanded the US sell off its helium surplus at a stupidly low price at unsustainable levels. The gas field where we injected decades worth of helium started drying up because the helium was being trapped in the rocks as the gas field was being separated. Luckally the supply has stabilized a bit and fracking has really helped in both the storage field to free the trapped gas and in general because more wells are online and tiny bits of helium get pulled out of those wells too

[QUOTE=Passing;49309801]Still kinda a fan of solar, Because i don't really know what the possible pollution would be from a fusion reactor beyond the massive amounts of radiation.[/QUOTE] This is fusion not fission

[QUOTE=Sableye;49302013]Stellerators are, or were nearly impossible to build, the issue is the magnets have to follow this natural wave motion that the plasma wants to take, where as a tokomac forces the plasma to not do that, the stellerator thusly needs less powerful magnets but requires an insane amount of computations and precision fabrication, every single slice of the magnet is a unique shape that contours to the plasma channel. The fact that it works is an amazing step forward because these are supposedly easier to manufacture in some ways because the magnets don't have to be as powerful and the casing doesn't have to be as tough, but the precision and modeling for these has to be spot on[/QUOTE] Pretty much this. Stellerators have an easier time maintaining plasma and don't wear as fast as Tokomaks do, but they're even harder to build and even most costly. Fusion reactors would be pretty cool for powering spacecraft with fusion thrusters, avoiding the issue NASA has with launching large amounts of fissile material and allowing for much faster interplanetary travel

[QUOTE=Sableye;49310904]Except it will be radioactive... Not like nuclear waste but you're talking about tons of neutron collisions, some by products will be formed[/QUOTE] No unstable helium isotope has a half-life any longer than a second; radioactivity is a non-issue.

And fusion reactors still produxe radioactive byproducts, in that the walls of the reactor eventually become irradiated and abated by all the neutron collisions. The radioactivity of these substances is much lower though. That's one of the key things holding fusion reactors back - the amount of wear and tear on the walls of the reactor is ridiculous and hard to compensate for, and in Tokomaks the diverter just can't be made strong enough. I'm all for fusion though, it has tremendous potential. I'm hoping to work in my Unis applied fusion lab this summer, since I'm hoping to get my degree with a focus on Aerospace Plasmas [editline]14th December 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=sltungle;49313171]No unstable helium isotope has a half-life any longer than a second; radioactivity is a non-issue.[/QUOTE] Except it is? The ablation of core materials and eventual activation of them has been one of the biggest criticisms o ITER

[QUOTE=paindoc;49313173]Except it is? The ablation of core materials and eventual activation of them has been one of the biggest criticisms o ITER[/QUOTE] I'm talking about just the helium on itself (in response to the post I quoted, which was in response to somebody saying that we should sell the helium).

[QUOTE=Lolkork;49313693]How long until someone turns this in to a bomb[/QUOTE] Thermonuclear weapons are already fusion detonations. A fission bomb detonates forcing a fusion reaction to occur. Improvements in this reaction is one of the major reasons that modern nukes are so ridiculously devastating when compared to WWII era stuff.

It's still very far from practical application

[QUOTE=Lolkork;49313693]How long until someone turns this in to a bomb[/QUOTE] Never

[QUOTE=Lolkork;49313693]How long until someone turns this in to a bomb[/QUOTE] Never, as mentioned. But as has been noted maintaining the magnetic field perfectly is required for the reaction to continue. If this field fails or is broken, the reaction just stops and everything fizzles out. You can't weaponize a fusion reactor, and fusion/hydrogen bombs are still, despite their name, using fissile material and are technically nuclear weapons. We've just refined how they work, essentially. [editline]14th December 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=sltungle;49313778]I'm talking about just the helium on itself (in response to the post I quoted, which was in response to somebody saying that we should sell the helium).[/QUOTE] My bad, didn't notice that bit. [editline]14th December 2015[/editline] I'm honestly interested in the latent progress in fusion reactors. We're starting to see a number of larger designs come online or make advances, and each small step can help the whole field. That and seeing what different designs are best at is pretty neat. I'm hoping to see more from spheromaks as those are quite interesting imo