Notoriety, Well wishers telling you how good it is.

Reflections on fusion history, current events, and predictions for the 'fusion powered future.
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Richard Hull
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Real name: Richard Hull

Notoriety, Well wishers telling you how good it is.

Post by Richard Hull »

I am known, not only here but by many others related to my chasing fusion. (Most have no idea why I am chasing it)
I have been getting a lot of folks e-mailing me saying, "Richard, you must be excited about the recent fusion announcement related to break even fusion finally being achieved".

The super hype regarding the NIF's wonderful announcement is taken by the "down at heel", common man use to sound bites as being a "real soon now" redux on fusion. It seems to be a breath of fresh air for many. Those "many" do not do fusion, and only a tiny fraction have even the most tenuous and often mistaken concepts related to it.

I have noticed in google searches of late that there are ever more posts related to explaining fusion with the statement "we have reached breakeven"!
Of course, we are not much closer to fusion power from the wall outlet than in the 1950's. Seventy years of nothing! No net gain. I did find one negative short video noting that to be really useful, a Q total might need to be 100X. This sounds reasonable until you note you would need a 1 megawatt coal of oil or gas power plant to power a 100 megawatt fusion plant. Ideally, once you get the fusion plant running 24-7-365 you might feed 1 of those 100 megawatts of electrical energy back into keeping it running and disconnect the fossil fuel plant.

The scientific weakness of the public has been universal for many years and is growing ever weaker as many schools are starting to drop some advanced STEM programs to allow for "equity". All but the best engineering and physics colleges are thinking of following in this venue. It is bad enough to dump top level graduate "pass men" with no real experience onto the job market. Imagine dumping a lot of equity graduates into positions where application of extreme nuances associated with their degree are demanded and expected by an employer.

The google market of fusion "video shows" is really hyped over a Q total of 0.01 or 1%....Assuming a Q total of 100 is a reasonable wall outlet power solution, NIF needs to do 10,000 times better at break even fusion to be "in th' game" of useful fusion energy!

Fusion is the energy of the future and it always will be!

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
Jerry Biehler
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Re: Notoriety, Well wishers telling you how good it is.

Post by Jerry Biehler »

A friend of mine is a physics professor and the local news media wanted to interview him when the announcement hit. It's just not what people think it really is.

Same thing about the room temp superconductor they have found. Sure, they work at room temp, but you have to have them under pressure between diamond anvils. Completely impracticable for anything.
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Richard Hull
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Re: Notoriety, Well wishers telling you how good it is.

Post by Richard Hull »

Yes, all of this just goes to show and emphasize that hype will always be hype to the informed and a miracle to the man on the streets.

Where education is lacking, the vista of what is possible, and even that which has been has been touted as a fete accompli seems a miracle. Naturally, this plays on the "real soon now" narrative so bound up in the fusion energy's checkered and lie filled past, casting all of this hokum into the hype filled future.

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
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