Hsu predicts someone will achieve fusion scientific breakeven during the 2020s
Dr. Scott Hsu · Is nuclear fusion getting close? · Dec 23, 2021 · at 41:05
Dr. Scott Hsu, ARPA-E Program Director, discusses the timeline for commercial nuclear fusion breakthroughs with host Shayle Kann.
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“If I were a betting person, I would say yes. I think somebody will achieve scientific break-even this decade, and possibly more than one.”
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More from Dr. Scott Hsu
Hsu: New superconductors enable major fusion milestones at smaller, cheaper scales
“What took Something, say, the size of ITER to reach the next major milestone in fusion, people think can be done now with much smaller sized systems and much lower cost systems.”
Hsu: Scaling fusion gain beyond Q=1 risks encountering unstudied new physics
“So I would say going from .7 to one is is not a huge jump but going from one to 10, you, you're, or from, you know, one to a hundred in inertial fusion you're likely to encounter some new physics that, that haven't been studied yet, which makes it riskier.”
Hsu: Core plasma physics is a minor driver of total plant cost
“Even though you can optimize your fusion core and get to high gain, honestly, at the end of the day, those things are a smaller driver of the ultimate total cost.”
Hsu: A single train car of fusion fuel could power the US
“Yeah, so the example I like to look at is one train car of fusion fuel, and that's like a little over a hundred tons. Imagine a train car of coal, for example, But if it was a train car of deuterium, tritium fuel that would provide enough energy for the U.S.'s…”