It is a typical promotional and simplified text, which I always dislike....weather it is in favor of my goals or not.
Furthermore I found some errors in it:
Quote:
Thus, energy must be used to ignite fusion and to replace the energy continuously lost by the hot fuel. Obviously, the energy produced by the reaction must exceed the required input if the reactor is to be of any use.
First of all most of the energy isn't lost by scattering, but by Bremsstrahlung. Secondly the energy lost will be supplied by the slowing down alpha particle which is produced in the D-T reaction. The main reason to continue an input of energy is to keep control of the plasma and to shape (temperature, pressure,...) it in a way that it is optimal.
Quote:
This first wall is expected to be made of stainless steel or, better, one of the refractory metals such as molybdenum or vanadium that retain their strength at very high temperatures.
The First wall has to sustain plasma sputtering! I have never read that the EM-radiation is that severe. But as far as I know Tungsten is now proposed due to it's very low sputtering yield (although having a higher Z-value then Beryllium, it is much more preferred) Furthermore tungsten has an (n,2n') reaction peaking around 14.1MeV which multiplies the primary neutrons. Of course Be has also such a reaction but with a lower threshold and an almost constant value over it's energy range. So a lot depends on the scattering and so on. But still I believe that tungsten is the way to go (besides fluid walls, but that's for a more far away fusion future).
OK I haven't read through the entire article yet, but I don't agree (some stuff are true though, but same things could be said about any energy source...nothing is perfect). I still think and believe fusion is the energy source of the future. Unfortunately the ITER program isn't the way to achieve it (according to me)...And actually I very much doubt the fact of seeing a power fusion reactor in my life, most of all by political and economical problems associated with it...