Fred, I watch with interest the technical progress of fusion companies. They are still a very long way from having a commercial technology, and it's hard to be sure that they ever will. If a commercial fusion plant can be built, the technology will have an effect if it's cheaper than fission (unlikely), if uranium supply is uncertain (also unlikely), and if society decides it would like to swap the storage and disposal of long-lived, slightly radioactive waste materials for more intensely-radioactive short-lived materials. That's unlikely too. And some fast reactors have the capacity to destroy the long-lived isotopes, so the factors affecting the viability of fusion include the progress in fission reactors.
Curious how fusion will impact the future of fission reactors.
Fred, I watch with interest the technical progress of fusion companies. They are still a very long way from having a commercial technology, and it's hard to be sure that they ever will. If a commercial fusion plant can be built, the technology will have an effect if it's cheaper than fission (unlikely), if uranium supply is uncertain (also unlikely), and if society decides it would like to swap the storage and disposal of long-lived, slightly radioactive waste materials for more intensely-radioactive short-lived materials. That's unlikely too. And some fast reactors have the capacity to destroy the long-lived isotopes, so the factors affecting the viability of fusion include the progress in fission reactors.
Thank you very much for the reply. Nuclear energy is an amazing and important topic with so much to understand.