> (unless you consider fusion a solved problem, and thus have near-free energy)
I wonder where the idea that "fusion = extremely cheap" comes from. Even if/when we get commercially viable fusion, there's no reason why it should be significantly cheaper than energy from nuclear fission – you'll still need extremely complicated, high-precision, high-technology machines, generators, cooling towers, buildings, skilled workers, some amount of regulation, and disposal of nuclear waste. Oh, and if your fusion design is a tokamak, it might easily be more expensive than energy from fission reactors.
If you want electrical energy that's some orders of magnitude cheaper, you'll need a break-through in fundamental physics.
I wonder where the idea that "fusion = extremely cheap" comes from. Even if/when we get commercially viable fusion, there's no reason why it should be significantly cheaper than energy from nuclear fission – you'll still need extremely complicated, high-precision, high-technology machines, generators, cooling towers, buildings, skilled workers, some amount of regulation, and disposal of nuclear waste. Oh, and if your fusion design is a tokamak, it might easily be more expensive than energy from fission reactors.
If you want electrical energy that's some orders of magnitude cheaper, you'll need a break-through in fundamental physics.