If we could harness the heat from nuclear fusion here on Earth, we could use it to generate electricity on-demand without worrying about carbon emissions, nuclear waste, or running out of fuel

I don't want to detract from this exciting milestone. Fusion is an absolute requirement for the complete end of our reliance on fossil fuels and there are no problems significant enough to warrant the end to fusion experiments. However, this statement is definitely not true with tokamak reactors. They typically use deuterium and tritium for fuel, which are limited resources. Fusion reactions are far more difficult with other light elemental isotopes. These reactors also use beryllium as shielding, which is a carcinogen. When the shielding needs to be replaced, it actually is radioactive.

[–] Decoy321 78 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Those are entirely accurate facts, but those downsides are absolutely dwarfed by the upsides to the technology's potential. It's like getting your own spaceship, then pointing out that it lacks cup holders.

[–] rockSlayer 46 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (7 children)

I agree, fusion reactors will absolutely revolutionize everything, and even if we can't do better than tokamak reactors, these problems are still pretty mild. I just expect more from scientific journalism

[–] woefkardoes 14 points 1 year ago

Fusion is a very long term goal and I'm sure they are careful to not tarnish its image. But yes sadly the first commercial fusion reactors probably won't be sustainable but once they are a reality investment into the technology will be much greater and hopefully cleaner fuels will become a reality.

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