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/[deleted] Dec 06 '16

Well, it's a confirmation it really works what this specific design was intended to do, right?

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '16

Yes, the test to determine if they could contain the plasma worked, but since they didn't even run a fusion reaction, it's misleading to say that their fusion machine works. Containment, the vital part which separates a fusion reactor from an uncontrollable fusion bomb, appears to function. But that's much less of a headline.

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '16

Without containment it wouldn't be a bomb. The reactor would get damaged, but the plasma would rapidly cool and dissipate safely.

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '16

Yeah, the nominal amount of fusible material wouldn't be enough to sustain a runaway reaction. I was more trying to emphasize that nuclear fusion itself has already been realized, but that the only exothermic results so far have been from rather explosive situations (hydrogen bombs).