Tech bosses think nuclear fusion is the solution to AI’s energy demands – here’s what they’re missing
theconversation.com
Nuclear fusion can’t produce net energy, so is it really a solution to AI’s growing energy demands?

nuclear power produces long-lived radioactive waste, which needs to be stored securely. Nuclear fuels, such as the element uranium (which needs to be mined), are finite, so the technology is not considered renewable. Renewable sources of energy, such as solar and wind power suffer from “intermittency”, meaning they do not consistently produce energy at all hours of the day.

fusion technologies have yet to produce sustained net energy output (more energy than is put in to run the reactor), let alone produce energy at the scale required to meet the growing demands of AI. Fusion will require many more technological developments before it can fulfil its promise of delivering power to the grid.

  • mwguy@infosec.pubEnglish
    2·
    11 days ago

    You see, at some point you need a shield around the reactor to actually absorb all the high energy particles released, and turn that energy into heat.

    So we have to replace a few tons of shielding that’s lightly radioactive every 2-6 years. That’s literally a vehicle’s worth of waste to power tens of thousands of homes.

    • Cocodapuf@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      11 days ago

      You’ll find that nuclear fission is not very different.

      Nuclear submarines for example only need to be refueled once or twice in their multiple decade lifespan.

        • Cocodapuf@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          10 days ago

          And if somehow, despite that efficiency, we still have problems figuring out how to store that nuclear waste today. I know this ought to be a solvable problem, but we seem to struggle with it.

            • Cocodapuf@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              6 days ago

              Hey, I agree with you, the yuca mountain facility was literally built for that. And yet, even then there was enough nimby sentiment to prevent it from going into use. Just crazy.