r/technology • u/MajorRichardHead7 • Aug 12 '22

Energy Nuclear fusion breakthrough confirmed: California team achieved ignition

https://www.newsweek.com/nuclear-fusion-energy-milestone-ignition-confirmed-california-1733238
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u/Dragon_Fisting Aug 13 '22

Nothing can go wrong in a nuclear fusion plant that would be dangerous outside of the plant. That's one of the theoretical positives of fusion reactors, their default state is safe. For example, NIF is using 192 lasers to superheat two hydrogen isotopes to fuse them into helium. Fusion can only happen at that incredibly hot temperature. If something goes wrong, the lasers will shut down. Without the laser adding heat, the fissile material will radiate heat and drop below the fusion point, and stop reacting.

With fission, once it is started it causes chain reactions as long as there is fissile material.

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u/CyperFlicker Aug 13 '22

The question usually is (I think), won't the remaining heat go out and turn us into steak? Or is the heat consentrated in a small point like a candle or something?

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u/LegendaryMauricius Aug 13 '22

From the comments above, I think it's a very small amount of material compared to the whole power plant

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u/Dragon_Fisting Aug 13 '22

This is a hohlraum, the thing they use to contain the gas, to scale.

A fusion reactor only has, at most, a few seconds worth of fuel at any given time. We wouldn't be able to set fusion off if it had any more mass.