So I had a week long intensive last week, all about fusion technology. My brain is still a bit overwhelmed with information, and it's quite complicated stuff. A whole bunch of images, not all of them in a sensible order. I wouldn't say I yet know how to build a tokamak, but I now am a lot closer. Have a pretty good schematic in my head right now.
A couple of things stuck in my head. Mainly, that they could probably build a fusion plant right now, if you didn't mind too much about making a massive pile of highly radioactive waste and build a conventional nuclear reactor with the purpose of making tritium.
It also wouldn't be hugely efficient, but it could be built really big, which would probably get round that. It wouldn't even have an explosion risk, because fusion plants are inherently safe. Just it'd be an unfortunate radiation hazard, a sink hole that'd have to be left alone for 1000s of years afterwards.
So they've set themselves a huge task - not only do they want abundant and safe power, they want it without any radioactive risk, and make it self-sustaining in terms of fuel cycle. And it seems like it's doable, but the aspects that are difficult are really difficult - the structure has to survive years of bombardment with high energy neutrons, which is reasonably easy, but also has to not turn radioactive, which is the really hard part. Also, it has to produce it's own Tritium, the difficult bit of the fuel to find, unless one happens to have access to a nearby nuclear reactor.
One day I might get round to explaining in a noddy way how a fusion plant would work, in a noddy way that's similar to the noddy way I understand it. Is all dead interesting stuff. You never know, we might help save the world. You should see the fusion group at our university; nerds in Lycra.
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