Perception of nuclear power and nuclear fusion in the US
There have been some serious advantage in the research into nuclear fusion. We may not be that far off from being able to harness it as an energy source. And we are not even talking cold fusion, we are talking hot fusion which is an equivalent of recreating of star environments in a controlled fashion.
There is also a theoretical possibility cold fusion could be a go too. That is nuclear fusion taking place at relatively low temperatures. It is projected that should that materialize we may be able to power a small town using a device the size of a suitcase for years.
All this is very exciting - but the public may not be all that receptive of this, at least in the US, at least at this point. And this is likely a function of the lack of scientific knowledge of awareness. For example, few people realize that the Chernobyl disaster was caused by massive blatant safety rule violations. They also don't have sufficient awareness of the fact that fossil fuel industry, such as coal industry, causes routine pollution and disease that likely shorten hundreds of thousands of lives every year.
As it stands, nuclear energy is a natural source of energy, which in practical terms, projected onto the scale of our needs, is unlimited. That alone is reason to explore it, in this author's opinion.
References
Will We Accept Nuclear Fusion When It Comes?
James E. Hanley, American Institute for Economic Research, 24 September 2021
Whether Cold Fusion or Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions, U.S. Navy Researchers Reopen Case
Micheal Koziol, IEEE Spectrum, 22 March 2021
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Thanks for your article, links, and optimism. Have a great weekend.
@tipu curate
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Thanks.
It is not so much optimism as it is belief in profit motivation. If nuclear fusion, especially cold fusion, becomes practical technology, it will be so much more efficient that it is almost impossible to imagine it not prevailing.
The success of a cheap and reliable power source can bring all sorts of issues, mostly political and power-related ...
Oh, you mean if a cheap suitcase-size device can power your whole town, your state-sponsored power monopoly may not get its cut and might get upset? 😀
Exactly :)
Well, they will need lots of enforcers to keep things the way they are - and you can only take this so far when you are clearly behind the curve. :)
True. I am counting on it that their house of fake cards will collapse, better sooner than later.
While I'm not sold on cold fusion, I really hope we achieve practical hot fusion. Don't even have to worry about meltdowns. I like fission too, fission is becoming alot more modular with those smaller power plants that can be expanded when necessary. I'm sure there are some articles out there on those. I like finding people who support nuclear power as a method of getting off of the fossil fuel train.
100%
Fusion is safer than fision because in a situation when the reactor is physically destroyed the material involved is dispersed and the reaction stops.
Unfortunately, the Chernobyl disaster has caused many people to die of cancer in Black Sea region of my country.
I know. Part of my family is from Vinnitsa, Ukraine.
Chernobyl was horrible. It killed up to 500K people I believe.
100K people get their lives cut short every year by the "bunker fuel":
https://williamliggett.com/2018/05/28/bunker-fuel-sounds-bad-its-worse-than-it-sounds/