https://news.mit.edu/2024/tests-show-high-temperature-superconducting-magnets-fusion-ready-0304
Press release, but they've consistently been putting out press releases stating they are meeting their timeline, on time.
IMHO, if fusion ever gets commercialized it'll be first and primarily as a neutron source for high-burnup fission reactors and breeders. Each 24MeV D-T fusion releases a very high-energy neutron that can trigger a 200MeV fission. If you're doing fusion alone, those valuable neutrons mostly go to waste.
@JonathanRay To elaborate on this, what’s a better use of a neutron:
Try to get deuterium to absorb it (extremely low cross section) so you get tritium which is difficult to fuse for 24mev to get your 1 neutron back. Maybe you can just barely break even on neutron economy here using expensive beryllium’s n-2n reactions if everything is perfectly designed to conserve neutrons.
get any of a zillion fertile heavy isotopes to absorb it (large cross sections) to get a fissile isotope which is relatively easy to fission for ~200mev and get 2-4 neutrons back
I doubt fusion alone will ever be an economically competitive utility scale electricity source
@JonathanRay you're absolutely spot-on with this -- even if we solve the tremendous technical challenge of Q>1 engineering breakeven, the enormous capex + opex of a fusion plant and fusion fuel makes economic breakeven seem very unlikely. I would be shocked if by 2050, commercial fusion power hit the ~20 c/kWh needed to compete with even gas peaker plants, let alone ~10 c/kWh baseload nuclear fission or <2 c/kWh peak solar/wind. Technological advancements can make a lot of previously unimaginable things possible, but at the end of the day fusion won't make a dent on the grid if it's not profitable to do so.