China plans to complete a fusion power tokamak reactor by 2030. - eviltoast
  • InverseParallax@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Good luck to them!

    I think the only major contribution to humanity the CCP I would respect would be fusion research.

    It’s not complicated, just stupid expensive and politically impossible, but if they can figure it out, they have truly provided a transformative humanity.

    • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
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      1 month ago

      Fusion reactors are incredibly complicated… This is a research reactor, with the goal of figuring out how to create sustainable fusion for real world uses by 2050.

      This is not a performative action for a determinative outcome, this is aspirational and has no guarantee of achieving its goals, which is good. This type of research and science needs to be funded, even when it may fail.

      Maybe this will spurn competition between powers to accelerate their own fusion reactor research, and create a virtuous cycle that accelerates this technology becoming a major source of green energy in the near, or medium-term, future.

      • Sentient Loom@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        I like democracy, but I don’t like our short-sighted (4-8 year) election-campaign-based governing. But between our public and private sectors I know we can meet this challenge and make this happen.

        • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
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          1 month ago

          I disagree on the private sector aspect of this, but I agree on the democracy part. Although, I don’t really view America as true democracy at this moment in history, but that’s besides the point here.

          Fusion technology is at a point in its life cycle where it needs to be a public sector project. There is no path to profitability in the near-term, that would justify private sector involvement, except as a means to extract profit from the very expensive research process of even making this technology feasible.

          Not that I’m against the private sector within the nuclear power industry. I’m very excited to see what they can do with SMR technology. I’m just extremely skeptical of most private-public partnerships, especially in cases like this.

            • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
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              1 month ago

              One way they conduct themselves is by using the politicians they’ve purchased to advocate for forming public-private partnerships, in areas where they shouldn’t exist, which they can then legally siphon off the resources from.

      • Dessalines@lemmy.mlOP
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        1 month ago

        And poverty eradication. And high speed rail. And smartphone and chip tech, and space program… kind of a long list.

        • UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml
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          1 month ago

          If only we dissolved all nation states and lived in communes that best reflect everyones individual values.

          Mine would have nukes, because I will never trust humanity, no matter how good things get.

          • GarbageShootAlt2@lemmy.ml
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            1 month ago

            It’s silly to act like individual values are some sacred, unassailable thing gifted to everyone’s soul by the heavens, rather than something that came from a combination of inborn human traits and memories*, i.e. they are something that is contingent, changing, and in no way above being questioned.

            It’s also silly to act like it makes sense to just have a blanket acceptance of something if it’s an “individual value” even though, when we look at the world, individual values can sometimes be extremely fucked up and we shouldn’t allow people who would enact those values to abuse with impunity.

            *“memories” is simplistic, but I don’t think it is catastrophically so.

          • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml
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            1 month ago

            Your commune would be super lucky if it had anything because small communes (especially isolated sects “never trusting humanity”) are not the best places to make even things like glasses, not to mention atomic weaponry.

        • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          I mean, that’s not the CCP, that’s just the Chinese people working like dogs to profit the corrupt party members.

          If that’s true then it is also true that Capitalism didn’t do anything for America either. It was Americans working like dogs for the profit of corrupt leaders.

  • deFrisselle@lemmy.sdf.org
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    1 month ago

    I find it odd they are going with a Tokamak design which has been tested for decades and has issues that require complicated engineering to solve Magnetic confinement of the plasma being the massive one I have to wonder why they are not going with a Stellarator design Maybe their engineering and science isn’t up to it

  • Sentient Loom@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    Man, I wish we (Canada) were that ambitious. I know lemmy hates Elon Musk but I really admire his ambition in technical pursuits. I’m not saying we need more Elon Musks, but we should pursue more grand projects.

    • explodes@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Tell me you don’t know what you’re talking about without telling me you don’t know what you’re talking about

    • RubberElectrons@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      First wall problems compounded by geometric constraints, fueling, magnetic & corresponding mechanical complexities, particularly over long periods of time where material fatigue sets in due to coils applying heavy, dynamic loading… there’s a lot against tokamaks.

      They seem to impress people, and we could all use novel research into MHD. But @Blackdoomax@sh.itjust.works is kind of correct.