General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I will tell you why Maddow's "Hubris" aired NOW and not back then. And you won't like it. [View all]Occulus
(20,599 posts)There are a few very promising research projects that are very close to break-even.
The Tokamak is not one of them. That's a boondoggle money hole that cannot ever possibly work as designed. A recent development involving a (I think) barium or boron coating- I forget which- on the interior of the containment chamber supposedly mitigates some of the problems with plasma fluctuations, but I'm not sure if that will be an answer to the fundamental problems of plasma flow control associated with that design.
I had hope for the Polywell design created by Dr. Bussard, but I haven't heard anything since the Navy re-upped their funding for the project. I suppose no news is good news, though, and the fact that they did continue backing the project is a Good Thing.
There's another project involving laser ignition, but I'm not as familiar with that as I am with the other two.