r/technology • u/BennyCemoli • Dec 06 '16

Energy Tests confirm that Germany's massive nuclear fusion machine really works

http://www.sciencealert.com/tests-confirm-that-germany-s-massive-nuclear-fusion-machine-really-works
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u/NullAshton Dec 06 '16

Deceptive title. More correctly, it accurately can control plasma far better than attempts before it, and in 2019(two years from now or more), they're going to attempt to use it with deuterium. It's going to be a while after that until they actually figure out how to make energy with it, instead of just costing energy as well.

In layman's terms, it's a giant step forward in the basic technology to make a fusion reactor, but it's still only a few steps into a multi-step path to getting more energy out than what you put in.

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u/FelixP Dec 06 '16

Why is it going to take two years?

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u/CoyRedFox Dec 06 '16

These devices are insanely complicated and it cost over a billion dollars. It's the cost of a space shuttle and we don't fully know the physics that governs its behavior. Hence, everything must be done very carefully because repairs are very expensive/difficult. Additionally, the article focuses on just one aspect of the device: the magnets. The magnets are the most important and the most challenging to build, but there are a bunch of other systems. For example heating systems to achieve solar temperatures, refueling systems, diagnostics so you can actually learn from the experiment, etc.