IEEE Spectrum January 28, 2020
Over the past several years, more than two dozen research groups and well-funded startups, university programs, and corporate projects have achieved eye-opening advances in controlled nuclear fusion. Some of these groups are predicting significant fusion milestones within the next five years, including reaching the breakeven point at which the energy produced surpasses the energy used to spark the reaction. Fusion research is among the costliest of endeavors. Advances in high-speed computing, materials science, and modeling and simulation are helping to topple once-recalcitrant technical hurdles, and significant amounts of money are flowing into the field. According to veteran fusion researchers any claims of commercialization within the decade are just not true, we’re still a lot more than one breakthrough away from having a pathway to fusion power…read more.
Fusion Vortex: General Fusion’s magnetized target reactor injects pulses of plasma into a sphere filled with swirling molten lead and lithium. Credit: General Fusion.