I also watched that MIT talk and it was quite insightful; however, as I searched a bit more, I realized that the metrics involved in the presentation are only for achieving surplus in the generated energy from fusion.
When it comes to industrializing the idea, the scope is far broader. For example, the speaker was saying that they can use the neutron streams as the result of fusion for creating tritium. In reality, capturing the neutrons is much more complex than that [1]. Some of those may deposit on the inner surface of the tokamak and have to be recovered by 99% to have breakeven. The nuclear waste is another concern in the opposite case.
Given all these, you get a sense that why companies like General Fusion [2] get funded. He showed that General Fusion is very far away in his metrics. But the pinching technology the company is offering, allows for continuous use of the fusion in rapid bursts (like an automatic rifle). When I met them at the Globe conference, they were claiming that they will be ready for production within 5 years of achieving a surplus. I am not sure how fast the tokamak can get there.
When it comes to industrializing the idea, the scope is far broader. For example, the speaker was saying that they can use the neutron streams as the result of fusion for creating tritium. In reality, capturing the neutrons is much more complex than that [1]. Some of those may deposit on the inner surface of the tokamak and have to be recovered by 99% to have breakeven. The nuclear waste is another concern in the opposite case.
Given all these, you get a sense that why companies like General Fusion [2] get funded. He showed that General Fusion is very far away in his metrics. But the pinching technology the company is offering, allows for continuous use of the fusion in rapid bursts (like an automatic rifle). When I met them at the Globe conference, they were claiming that they will be ready for production within 5 years of achieving a surplus. I am not sure how fast the tokamak can get there.
Source: 1. http://thebulletin.org/fusion-reactors-not-what-they%E2%80%9... 2. http://generalfusion.com/