Why is fusion power so expensive?

Fusion is also very expensive. ITER estimates the cost of design and construction at about 20 billion euros (currently about $22 billion). But the actual cost of components may be higher in some of the participating countries, like the United States, because of high labor costs.

What is the cost of a fusion reactor?

The $22 billion International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, under construction in southern France is being funded by 35 countries.

Which gives off more energy fission or fusion?

Elements heavier than Iron produce more energy through fission. Fission is when a large nucleus divides into smaller nuclei releasing energy. So, the answer is fusion produces more energy if it involves light elements and fission produces more energy if it involves heavy elements.

Is thermonuclear fusion more expensive than nuclear fission?

Hence thermonuclear fusion will always have a much lower power density than nuclear fission, which means that any fusion reactor needs to be larger and therefore more costly, than a fission reactor of the same power output.

What are the economic benefits of nuclear fusion?

Fusion power plants will need to achieve Q values well above 10 to be economic. The many potential benefits of fusion as an energy source are the reason it has long been viewed as an ideal method of generation. The fuel—isotopes of hydrogen—is readily available, and the only by-product is helium.

What happens to a fusion reactor when it fails?

It turns off. Whatever the exact details end up, it will take a lot of active measures to keep any fusion reactor running. Under normal conditions fusion does not happen. Depending on the type of failure the plant might be ruined in a way that would require the inner core to be removed and replaced.

What are the engineering challenges of fusion power?

Fusion power offers the prospect of an almost inexhaustible source of energy for future generations, but it also presents so far unresolved engineering challenges. The fundamental challenge is to achieve a rate of heat emitted by a fusion plasma that exceeds the rate of energy injected into the plasma.