"Stay with me - it's not entirely far-fetched. Thanks to advances in AI, computing, and superconducting magnets, fusion power is closer than ever to commercial reality. It's increasingly looking like fusion is more a question of "when" not "if." And when it does happen, it promises to deliver large amounts of clean power from a plentiful fuel source - water."
"Putting a reactor on a ship isn't necessarily unreasonable, either. Today, submarines and aircraft carriers powered by nuclear fission reactors routinely prowl the seas. They're quiet, powerful, and can operate for decades before they need refueling. The civilian sector even toyed with the idea of nuclear-powered cargo ships back in the 1960s and 1970s. Fusion promises to give ships similar capabilities but without concerns over meltdowns, proliferation, or radiation. For now, the sector has been focused on building the first reactors on land."
"If fusion does pan out, then Maritime's leap to the seas would put it ahead of the curve. Plus, Cohen argues, it might actually be easier from a business perspective to start out at sea. The first fusion power plants won't be cheap, and it will take some time before they come down in cost. "Competing against things like solar and wind on the grid is super challenging from a cost perspective," Cohen said."
Advances in AI, computing, and superconducting magnets have pushed fusion power closer to commercial reality, shifting fusion from an if to a when. Fusion promises large quantities of clean energy derived from abundant water-based fuel. Shipboard fusion could mirror naval fission advantages—quiet, powerful, and long-operating—while avoiding meltdowns, proliferation, and radiation risks. Tokamak-style reactors are being evaluated for maritime deployment to capture early commercial opportunities. Economics at sea differ from grid competition, with alternatives like ammonia and hydrogen affecting adoption and potentially easing initial market entry for costly first-of-a-kind fusion plants.
Read at TechCrunch
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]