2019 Fall Kick-off Part 2 - "Fusion Power - Inexhaustible, Clean, but....?"

"Fusion Power - Inexhaustible, clean, but...?

The promise of inexhaustible fuel from seawater with no radioactive waste byproducts has mesmerized generations of physicists since the 1940’s. Nearly a hundred billion research & development dollars have been spent without getting any closer to a practical fusion reactor. Why? This lecture will explore the two main paths pursued so far - Magnetic Confinement Fusion reactors, (a.k.a. Tokamaks), and Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF), principally laser fusion. What are the results so far? What are the roadblocks, and what are the prospects of a practical power-producing reactor in the next decade?