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Good luck to them!
I think the only major contribution to humanity the CCP I would respect would be fusion research.
It's not complicated, just stupid expensive and politically impossible, but if they can figure it out, they have truly provided a transformative humanity.
Fusion reactors are incredibly complicated.... This is a research reactor, with the goal of figuring out how to create sustainable fusion for real world uses by 2050.
This is not a performative action for a determinative outcome, this is aspirational and has no guarantee of achieving its goals, which is good. This type of research and science needs to be funded, even when it may fail.
Maybe this will spurn competition between powers to accelerate their own fusion reactor research, and create a virtuous cycle that accelerates this technology becoming a major source of green energy in the near, or medium-term, future.
I like democracy, but I don't like our short-sighted (4-8 year) election-campaign-based governing. But between our public and private sectors I know we can meet this challenge and make this happen.
I disagree on the private sector aspect of this, but I agree on the democracy part. Although, I don't really view America as true democracy at this moment in history, but that's besides the point here.
Fusion technology is at a point in its life cycle where it needs to be a public sector project. There is no path to profitability in the near-term, that would justify private sector involvement, except as a means to extract profit from the very expensive research process of even making this technology feasible.
Not that I'm against the private sector within the nuclear power industry. I'm very excited to see what they can do with SMR technology. I'm just extremely skeptical of most private-public partnerships, especially in cases like this.
I would greatly prefer public sector development. I'm just being fatalistic about how our oligarchy conducts itself.
One way they conduct themselves is by using the politicians they've purchased to advocate for forming public-private partnerships, in areas where they shouldn't exist, which they can then legally siphon off the resources from.
They’re doing pretty well with solar and electric vehicles too
And poverty eradication. And high speed rail. And smartphone and chip tech, and space program... kind of a long list.
I plan to be rich next year!
I find it odd they are going with a Tokamak design which has been tested for decades and has issues that require complicated engineering to solve Magnetic confinement of the plasma being the massive one I have to wonder why they are not going with a Stellarator design Maybe their engineering and science isn't up to it
could be advancements like this that now make it possible https://interestingengineering.com/energy/china-achieves-fusion-milestone-neural-networks
You should let them know, they might need your expertise.
Isn't fusion power not as clean as people say it is?
The Practicalities of actual fusion reactors make this seem a lot less appealing than I think I grew up hearing.
I'm happy to see china continue to pump resources into their clean energy mix, but at the same time it feels like this entire concept might end up being more of a meme than we think.
