The title itself is dubious, and misleading. "Scientists and the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) have collaborated on a comprehensive new nuclear fusion plan. This is the first agreement of its kind in the U.S., representing years of work and cooperation. ITER's success or failure in the 2030s will make a huge difference in our plans. For the first time, a major group of American scientists has agreed to work toward opening a nuclear fusion plant by the 2040s." This business has been in the "stew" for decades now. Apparently, more B.S. is deemed needed to spread the gospel more widely among the taxpayers. Process seems to have been, "Make it bigger, then it will work". They ought to name this "Biggest Boon-doggle Yet". Look at the size of this structure! By comparison all of Hoover Dam's generators would fit inside this thing, providing millions of watts of power, whereas the scientists will be pleased if the fusion scheme produces a hundred watts of usable power, while consuming Hoover's output entirely in doing so. Frank
... There was a working, usable, reproducable, in action already working for many people plan for an electric generator that cost , in 1970-1980, about $50.00. plus the time and labor to assemble it. Maybe $100 to $400 if paying someone to do it. It was in Mother Earth News, and maybe also Popular Science ... Later, in PS, around 1997, there was a 70 cubic foot fuel cell with no moving parts and no maintenance costs most years that provided completely all the electricity needed for a huge ski resort in Maine/ or Appalachian Mtns, remote from any power lines.... That fuel cell cost $6000, to $7000, before the year 2000. It was "supposed to" be available by 2002. Well, 2002 came and went - it never became available to regular people - the resorts and the governments and the military purchases of the fuel cell were said to be $125,000 per unit.... If someone already had one, the cost previously , like to the resorts, was about 3 cents or less per kwh provided, with enough power available without strain to power all the residences in a ten city block area, if used in the city.
The major problem of fusion reactors is how to construct a vessel to contain the reaction I have read. Suspending it in a magnetic field was under consideration.
@Jeff Elohim Yes, it takes available energy, which exists in only a few forms, to produce electric power, which is yet another form of energy. Energy exists as HEAT, KINETIC (moving mass), ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY, and various types thereof, such as tides. Producing electricity simply involves converting one available energy type into electrical energy. Hydropower, dams, do this by using moving water to spin electrical generators, which produce the power. A typical HEAT produced electricity derives from burning FUEL, to produce steam which spins generators in much the same way water does. Alternate HEAT sources, one being the Sun, are currently being used in this manner. Nuclear reactions produce extreme amounts of heat of extremely high temperature potential, such as in Nuclear Generating Plants, which also produce steam. The one nuclear reaction most attractive is the FUSION REACTION, that practically has so far been elusive, whose fuel is basically water (hydrogen), of which unlimited supply exists. Fusing together hydrogen atoms to form helium atoms develops unimaginable amounts of heat, usable to produce electricity, the process so far being unattainable in other than hydrogen bombs. Frank
@Ed Wilson This is exactly right. When a hydrogen bomb explodes, the heat generated is of such intensity that it VAPORIZES everything near it: wood, steel, concrete, EVERYTHING. Magnetic fields, able to "contain" the fusing hydrogen atoms on a small scale, require gobs of energy being maintained, more than results from the desired fusion reactions. Frank