> to build a production model for them (to power a datacenter) by 2028.
Helion is known to promise the pie in the sky, and soon. In [1] they tell you (in 2014) that they will have a "pilot plant operation in 2019". One year later, in 2015, they let you know in [2] that they will "start building commercial systems by 2022".
OK, good to know, and I suppose not surprising since this is after all never-been-done-before research as well as engineering.
I guess the big question is how have they been progressing since, say, 2014? Are they making obvious progress and overcoming potential problems, or are new issues being identified as fast as others are being resolved ?
The design itself does seem promising, certainly more so than Tomahawk designs. I remember excitedly following the UK's JET (Joint European Torus) project when in high school in the late 1970's and here we are with ITER still sucking money and not appearing much closer than we were back then!
Honest question: How much of this is engineering and how much is regulation? Everyone overestimated development cycles but if there was 0 regulation and we lived in Ayn Rands' wet dream, do you think they could be close to delivering, or no?
No. Experimental fusion reactors are not subject to the kind of scrutiny that even a coal plant would be subjected to. (Essentially very little oversight unless you start emitting a lot of ionizing radiation outside of your containment structure) When they outgrow the lab, that will start to change a bit, but we are far from net positive even in a lab environment.
Wow, is this really the case? They could go build a novel reactor without any regulatory oversight? I guess I'll look into this but honestly doesn't seem like it would be true for the US
The situation was unclear for a while, but a few months ago the NRC decided to regulate fusion reactors like particle accelerators and hospital devices, rather than like fission reactors. It was a unanimous decision by the five commissioners.[1]
According to the CEO of Helion, this essentially means they get regulated at the state level, in their case by the WA Department of Health.[2]
A poorly-designed fission reactor can turn into Chernobyl. A poorly-designed fusion reactor just doesn't work. It's not the same level of risk at all.
Helion is known to promise the pie in the sky, and soon. In [1] they tell you (in 2014) that they will have a "pilot plant operation in 2019". One year later, in 2015, they let you know in [2] that they will "start building commercial systems by 2022".
[1] https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2014/07/helion-energy-plans-to...
[2] https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2015/08/helion-energy-raised-1...