LPP December 2010 Report - Summary

Posted by Lerner on Jan 11, 2011 at 02:24 PM
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Summary

LPP’s Focus Fusion project has demonstrated that ions with more than 100 keV energy (equivalent to more than 1 billion degrees C) are confined in a dense plasma focus.  This breakthrough is based on both new evidence from the past month and a re-analysis of shots made earlier in the year, and resolves a long-standing controversy within the field on whether the ions are confined in a small space, and thus can potentially heat the fusion fuel up to ignition, or are in a beam running freely through the cold background plasma of the chamber.  A combination of evidence from many instruments, fit together like a jig-saw puzzle, has demonstrated that the ions are trapped in circulating beams in very dense plasma.  The evidence ruled out the unconfined beam model.  The 100-keV energy is sufficient to burn pB11 fuel, once we start running with that fuel in the coming year, and makes us confident that we will be able to achieve at least significant pB11 fusion yield.  A press release on these results will be forthcoming shortly.  The results will be submitted to the leading physics journal, Physical Review Letters.

In other key developments, we have repeatably fired the bank with 10 capacitors attached, giving reliable shots above 1 MA at 33-34 kV.  We believe that we now clearly understand the previous pre-firing and insulator-breakage problems.  This will enable us to continue gathering data and testing our theories while we prepare a thorough ruggedization of the switches that will enable us in a few months to reach full power with all 12 switches at 45 kV, and push on to our goal of 2 MA current.  Full Report pdf »

• Demonstrating over 100 keV confinement in a dense plasma
• Reliable firing of bank with 10 capacitors
• On the lighter side—inter-species technical cooperation

Apologies

Apologies for not uploading this to the website sooner.  LPP newsletters are first distributed to LPP investors, then to FFS Dues paying members who got it on Dec. 30.  It is then posted on the LPP site, then posted here - but broken down into components.  This round, we deferred posting for the press release, and in all the excitement, it remained unposted.