> none of what anyone said is about a self-sustaining reaction.
Actual power plants are self sustaining as in they use the electricity they produce to operate, it’s mandatory though not sufficient for any commercial fusion power plant.
So, this isn’t about a different way to “calculate reaction efficiency better than the physicists doing the work” he was directly quoting their numbers from the paper. It’s only a question of communicating the meaning of efficiency.
> this is about more energy leaving the reaction chamber than went in.
The exact same energy was there before and after fusion only it’s form changed. It might seem pedantic to point that out, but if you don’t make it clear people will misunderstand.
Also, the applied laser energy also leaves the reaction chamber so any fusion would be net positive thermal energy by that yardstick.
> Actual power plants are self sustaining
Actual power plants are not necessarily self-sustaining and practically none of them can start if the grid power is not available. See: black start power plants and https://youtu.be/uOSnQM1Zu4w
Actual power plants are self sustaining as in they use the electricity they produce to operate, it’s mandatory though not sufficient for any commercial fusion power plant.
So, this isn’t about a different way to “calculate reaction efficiency better than the physicists doing the work” he was directly quoting their numbers from the paper. It’s only a question of communicating the meaning of efficiency.
> this is about more energy leaving the reaction chamber than went in.
The exact same energy was there before and after fusion only it’s form changed. It might seem pedantic to point that out, but if you don’t make it clear people will misunderstand.
Also, the applied laser energy also leaves the reaction chamber so any fusion would be net positive thermal energy by that yardstick.