A fusion energy breakthrough? Major announcement expected from US scientists (design)

[C C]

Are there enough sunflower seeds in a common bag sold at stores to represent the number of times in the last 60 years that researchers have proclaimed a fusion breakthrough, that comes to naught in terms of any practical application to the power grid? There seems little point in bothering to quote anything from this one, either.
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A Fusion Energy Breakthrough? Major Announcement Expected From US Scientists
https://www.cnet.com/science/climate/a-f...cientists/

[Kornee]

The real motivation is not an extremely unlikely practical commercial scale energy supply:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02338-4

[Kornee]

The 'breakthrough' announcement etc.:
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/nuc...skbarhover
Make sure to read the fine print. And read again #2.

[Magical Realist]

Just another extremely expensive way to boil water...

[C C]

And now the usual next phase of the unfolding sequence: An official mainstream proclamation of it being hyperbole. 

There is no “breakthrough”: NIF fusion power still consumes 130 times more energy than it creates
https://bigthink.com/the-future/fusion-p...se-energy/

Speaking of archetypes, this is probably one of several exemplar myths and patterns which sci-tech indulges in. The specific device or approach may change over time since the late 1950s, but the generic template remains the same.

[Kornee]

Not sure if I posted this one before in some other thread: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNP8by6V3RA
Each one has vastly greater chance of success than the utterly impractical laser inertial confinement scheme of Livermore's ungainly monster.
Even so, it's imo very unlikely any of them will succeed commercially. Newer fission reactor designs that minimize radioactive waste and are inherently fail-safe against a Chernobyl style disaster, have much better prospects.

[Zinjanthropos]

There should be a separate category for major US scientific breakthroughs that no one ever hears about again. Obviously not top secret, not worried about some enemy state using it against us. Maybe that’s the idea, get them to swallow the snake oil, idk.

Look at technology’s development. You don’t see companies involved telling the competition secrets. That’s the other thing, make competitors believe you’ve made the leap past their tech issuing a breakthrough announcement.

Damn nearly forgot about making an announcement to save your job or get funding.

[Kornee]

For reason(s) unknown, the MSN article linked to in #3 was wiped out of existence. Anyway CC's one in #5 covers the real situation well enough.
Except, an added irony re 'clean' fusion dreams that rely on standard Deuterium-Tritium fusion, is that the latter isotope absolutely needs fission reactors for production!:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication...of_tritium
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium#Production

[Ostronomos]

QUESTION TO CC: DO YOU THINK, WITH YOUR SUPERIOR POWERS OF DEDUCTION, THAT I HELPED CONTRIBUTE TO THIS IN ANY WAY WITH MY GENIUS?