God, this contraption appears to be the kind of thing I wouldn’t trust my life with. Every time I look at a fusion reactor, it seems far more dangerous than my hobby lab, failing to inspire any confidence. The numerous moving parts create an equal number of potential points of failure. In contrast, a nuclear reactor doesn’t have to contend with plasma gases hotter than the Sun, contained within an artificial bubble solely through the assistance of electromagnetic radiation.
I’ve often tried to imagine the worst case scenario, but I am limited by my knowledge on the subject. What kind of damage can hot plasma at a few million degree C do?
On one hand, the plasma is hotter than anything on earth created by mankind. Then I believe there’s also a significant number of wild neutrons shooting around which can cause havoc in their own right, if not contained. But on the other hand, unlike an uncontrolled chain reaction, without a source of heat, the whole operation shuts off by itself. I’m probably wrong about a few assumptions here but this is what I often find myself wondering.