Why Don't We Have Nuclear Fusion Power Yet?

Fusion power is supposed to save us from fossil fuels, so when is nuclear fusion going to be a viable option and why has it been so elusive?

Hosted by: Stefan Chin

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Sources:

ITER:

NIF:

[hkpew]

"The old joke, 'fusion is always 30 years away.'" I'm old enough to remember when fusion was only 20 years away.

[heronimousbrapson]

Too bad nobody has thought of harnessing all the hot air emanating from political rhetoric.

[adamwhitestone]

Love how his haircut changes at the end

[Mallory-Malkovich]

It's still hilarious to me that with all the impressive ways we generate power, it still always comes down to "and then we boil some water that spins a turbine." Why isn't _that_ part of the process being improved?

[Crank]

Thank you. Because of this video, for the first time, I’m starting to understand all the problems with fusion. I knew it had to be serious issues but I couldn’t understand the inherent problems. Now I’m beginning to understand.

[scottr]

The Wendelstein 7-X is also an alternative twisted design of a tokamak. It sustains fusion reactions far longer than ITER or JET, but it has a much low temperature. Feels like we can’t win no matter how hard we try!

[lanceheaps]

Damn disappointed we don’t have Mr. Fusion from Back to the Future yet. Science needs to get on that.

[motherofoblivion]

Wait, isn't that what Dr. Octopus tried to do in spider man 2?

[RealPyaqy]

2:44

Me: * hears tritium *

Me: “*THE POWER OF THE SUN IN THE PALM OF MY HAND*”

[RamiElRefai]

it's always nice to see when multiple countries work together. Brings us closer to our next step as a species, exploring the universe.

[luke]

I really like Sci Show and enjoy your videos. However, it seems that in this video you only covered the most long stand-standing (and perhaps a bit outdated) Fusion projects. There are several new projects that have accomplished A LOT and have impressive deadlines, new approaches, and answers to some of the problems you listed in your video. Checkout General Fusion and Commonwealth Fusion Systems, for example. They also hope to achieve net positive energy output before 2030. Which is only 11 years away...

[rfldss]

I'm sure you've been asked this a lot, but could you guys do a video on 4th gen nuclear fission reactors?

[EcoMouseChannel]

Major Fusion going on in my stomach right now, after this wicked super burrito. I don't know how to contain the emanating plasma either. But I'm positive there's potential energy to be harnessed there.

[thribsilva]

"It doesn't generate radioactive waste, but it does generate radioactive 'stuff' that we have to dispose of"

[etherraichu]

I always wonder with things like this. How long would it take to get to where we want if all of humanity came together and said "We need to do this, no matter how much it costs."

[tscoffey]

"Nuclear fission creates radioactive byproducts". 
"Nuclear fusion avoid all that". 
"Deuterium/tritium produces neutrons that make the surrounding material radioactive".

Care to explain all of this?

[bala]

Nice summary!! The only thing I'd like to mention is the other MCF approach called stellerators has made huge leaps in recent years too with Germany's fusion reactor Wendelstein 7X leading in progress.

[Caboose]

Fission with Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors (LFTR) can actually run by consuming nuclear waste.

[Vulcano]

No mention of the *other* MCF Design, Stellerator?
The Wendelstein-7X deals with the turbolent plasma flow by ... building a turbolent arranged magnets!
It's a sick machinery.

[pastorcoreyadams]

The one thing I find interesting is that the majority (not all) of Power Plant and electric generation have the same formula: Fuel + Heats up -->Boils water -->Produces steam --> Spins a turbine with magnetic --> releases electrons = Electricity. It has been this way since the 1880s. The only thing that changes is the fuel. You have coal, oil, natural gas, some solar, fission, and even in this video fusion. Renewables like photovoltaic, hydro, wind, and tides rely on a different process, but the issue is storage and demand. You either need large batteries like that Telsa is producing or other means to store energy. The storage of potential energy and electricity are some of the bigger challenges for the future. It will be interesting to see if the old model of a power plant will change in the future too and replace the steamcentric idea of energy production.