Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/12/02/uk-is-looking-for-a-site-to-build-worlds-first-prototype-fusion-energy-plant.html
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Underneath #10.
Or Eton.
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Judging by the quality of the decisions coming out of No. 10 nowadays, the device will end up in Poland and the IP in China.
But it’ll be the EU’s fault of course.
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Don’t forget Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn! Why hasn’t he Gotten Brexit Done already?
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What could possibly go wrong?
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The hope is to start constructing the prototype fusion reactor by 2032 and have it generating power by 2040.
Uhhh, that second part especially seems really optimistic. “Well, we literally can’t get fusion to work for more than a few minutes, but let’s build something and hope that this time we can not only make it work but turn it into an actual commercial power generator!” Whoo boy.
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It should be called DRAGON so we can constantly be chasing it.
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Just so we’re all perfectly clear, a fusion power plant is nowhere near viable. There has never been a sustained artificial fusion reaction that lasted more than a couple of minutes, and never one that was anywhere close to generating more power than went into the the system. In fact we don’t even know for sure if it will ever be possible.
So why would a company “seek a site to build a prototype”? A fundraising stunt. Shady companies do stuff like this all the time- give us a little more money to “finish” our “prototype” and everyone wins! Then a few years later they disappear.
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Are they still part of ITER or are they being kicked out because it’s the EU that’s the European partner?
Either way, this is clearly because they can’t stand that one being in France
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By the time this thing is operational, I reckon the UK will have enough offshore wind power to supply four times their peak demand. Fusion would be very handy if you were flying to Titan, but why build it in the UK?
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It’s something squirted out of Boris Johnson’s facial anus, otherwise known as a lie.
Also, the BBC is rapidly becoming worthless.
Climate change: PM aims for world-leading UK emissions cuts
By Roger Harrabin BBC environment analyst
BBC News understands Boris Johnson’s goal will be to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 68% or 69% by the end of the decade, based on 1990 levels.
No, he doesn’t.
No, it isn’t.
Perhaps you think he’s going to pay for it all with all that EU money that you’re getting back? Idiot.
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ITER is supposed to be finished in 2024 and start running in 2025 it looks like the UK reeeeally late to the party.
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FIFY.
Except that the UK did have the predecessor to ITER in the form of the Joint European Torus (JET) in Oxfordshire more than 20 years ago…
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According to New Scientist, if they manage to cut the cost of power from this plant by just 80% it will nearly compete with electricity from the white elephant EPRs at Hinkley C - themselves only twice as expensive as new offshore wind projects whose price continues to tumble.
I suspect this is equal measures bluster from Boris Johnson that the UK is still a world power and a way for taxpayer money to be siphoned off to the Tories’ friends.
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JET is still operating at Culham.
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Is Sellafield full or something?
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