11mo ago

Inside China’s race to lead the world in nuclear fusion

www.nature.com

The country has ambitious plans for fusion power plants to provide clean, limitless energy. Can they be realized?

Nuclear Power @lemmy.ml

schizoidman @lemm.ee

11mo ago

Inside China’s race to lead the world in nuclear fusion

www.nature.com /articles/d41586-024-02759-x

19 comments

The country has ambitious plans for fusion power plants to provide clean, limitless energy. Can they be realized?
Probably not, but it's good that they're taking the move away from fossil fuels seriously.
- Their plan was always to use energy to become the next superpower. England built an empire using coal. USA had built their currently hegemony on oil. China thinks their shot to greatness is clean tech, so they produce batteries, solar panels, wind turbines and try to make a new generation of nuclear plants.
  
  Everything you listed that China is doing seems good. Wish USA would lead, instead wasting billions on oil subsidies
- If you take a look at their battery industry, you'll see they're taking it very seriously
This is their best chance to escape their coming economic trap. They control so few actual resources beyond labor.
As an American I worry they might succeed, as a human, I actually hope they do, it would bring a true revolution by finally giving us cheap, safe energy, and hopefully it would scale down to let us democratize it compared to the massive capital sinks of current nuclear power.
- As an American, I hope they succeed. This is a scenario like the old anecdote about why the farmer gives his best seed to his neighbors - we succeed only when we all succeed, especially in terms of environmental degradation.
  Now, China's foreign policy? I'm still up for opposing that.
  
  That's the thing, their resource constraints are the only thing holding back their foreign policy.
  But I would still consider this a great gift to humanity and worthy of recognition.
- This is their best chance to escape their coming economic trap. They control so few actual resources beyond labor.
  Is that actually the case? I am not sure how many resources china has in their own country (I assume there are a few with it being this vast), but I think they are tackling the resource problem more so with their investments in Africa and other poor countries. And because of the war Russia also has fewer countries to sell to besides China.
  I think the true longterm problem is actually with the cheap labour force you mention. As the standard of living rises, so do wages. And more importantly they'll experience the same demographic shift other developed countries are currently experiencing with an aging population. With the difference that it'll be worse for them due to the one child polic.
  
  You're right about Africa, but they have further to go to really solidify their hold, though the west is sitting around watching too passively.
- As an American, I’m fine with them succeeding. However I’m afraid we are deciding to throw away every opportunity that comes our way.
  If we don’t lead in solar panels, it’s not just because China has a cheap labor advantage but that US decided it’s not worth pursuing. Same with trains. And EVs. And wind 🌬️ power. And a lot of electronics. And college education. And research. Etc
  
  America is betting hard on the Hyperloop though
Profiting off of power doesn’t seem very communist.
- Probably because neither is China.
  
  You mean the ML and hexbears are lying to me????
Actually, if you look more closely the large walls should have been orange and not green! That's why it's not working. Also that's just one building. Did they not take pictures of the other ten supporting buildings? Espionage is about the details guys! C'mon!
Until their culture changes, and the pervasive cutting of corners in engineering stops, I wouldn't put much stock in its success with large scale ventures.
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19 comments