Suggestion: Fusion Reactors

Suggestion/Idea: Fusion Reactors (Small Fusion Reactor: Small and Large Grid) (Large Fusion Reactor: Large Grid Only)

Type of Idea: Power Production Block

Expected Components:

Steel Plates

Metal Grids

Small Steel Tubes

Large Steel Tubes

Superconductors

Construction Components

Type of Fuel: Hydrogen

What it does: Fusion reactors harness the awesome power of the sun's nuclear fusion capability to produce electricity. Using powerful electromagnets, Helium3 plasma (Let's use Hydrogen in the base game for now.) are compressed, then super compressed, then quadruple compressed, until Nuclear Fusion is achieved. When two nuclei fuse, a small amount of mass is converted into a large amount of energy. Energy (E) and mass (m) are related through Einstein's relation, E = mc2, by the large conversion factor c2, where c is the speed of light (about 3 × 108 metres per second, or 186,000 miles per second). This provides a massive burst of power for less fuel, at the cost of more expensive construction compared to a standard fission reactor ingame.

Why it should be added: It would help players design large, power hungry capital ships more efficiently, and make ice and H2/O2 Generators more important for survival than just for oxygen use and hydrogen thrusters, making it more valuable to the playerbase.

How would you balance it: In order to maintain nuclear fusion, power must be fed back into the reactor. Furthermore, the electromagnetic field provided by the superconductors must have a source of power, so a charged battery, solar array or backup fission reactor must be present to start it up. Finally, the superconductors powering the magnetic field would be fragile, and damage could make the hot plasma break free of containment and cause the reactor to explode, making protection from damage paramount. It would also be an expensive block to build, making it mid-late game content. (There are a lot of ways this can be balanced)

(Note: Ingame fusion reactors would take up the Tokomak configuration, which is comprised of a hollow, donut-shaped containment vessel with superconductors wrapped around it at intervals to create a stable magnetic field.)