Written by Tim Lash, Focus Fusion Society Contributor. A few weeks ago we wrote about researchers adding impurities to fusion fuel to improve outcomes. In that case noble gasses added to the fuel prevented runaway electron currents. A new report details another study of fusion fuel additives. In this case scientists examine ways to improve radio frequency (RF) plasma heating. This work recently appeared in the journal Nature Physics. The team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) explain how adjusting the nuclear fusion “recipe” allowed them to increase the energy output. Replicated results produced by researchers at the largest active fusion device in Europe, the Joint European Torus (JET), confirm this finding. Nuclear fusion attempts to bring […]
Read MoreWritten by Tim Lash, Focus Fusion Society Contributor. So much resources have been devoted to ITER it must be mankind’s best hope for achieving clean sustained fusion energy. Right? Many countries have devoted billions to its construction. Vast teams of researchers have engaged multiple fronts of science and engineering challenges. Road maps with timelines stretching into decades have been drawn. With so much activity this must be the ideal path to fusion, right? Last month the BBC posted a summary report that paints a pretty grim picture for ITER’s prospects. ITER is an international effort to construct the worlds largest tokamak fusion reactor. The plans call for ITER to be built in southern France. Long ago the scientific community deemed […]
Read MoreWritten by Tim Lash, Focus Fusion Society Contributor. These days the term hybrid normally refers to automobiles. Most car companies now offer models propelled by both battery powered electric motors and fossil fuel engines. Nuclear reactors can also come in hybrid varieties. In this case the hybrid design features both a nuclear fusion and a nuclear fission component. An article recently posted to power-technology.com offered a comparison of this hybrid reactor design in relation to some of the leading fusion research efforts. All nuclear power stations in the world today use fissile materials for fuel. They use heavy atomic isotopes which split into lighter elements under the right conditions. The most common reaction is when a heavy atom absorbs a […]
Read MoreWritten by Tim Lash, Focus Fusion Society Contributor. One of the most challenging aspects of sustainable fusion power are the high temperatures required. These high temperatures stress any imagined containment device. Researchers from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) tested a containment model lined with liquid metal. They believe such an approach could improve dealing with the severe temperature gradients of fusion plasma. Their findings are documented in an article published in the journal Nature. A plasma reactor trying to sustain fusion is a very corrosive environment. Solid reactor walls and any equipment in proximity to the plasma will become degraded over time. Metallic parts become pitted and brittle with prolonged plasma exposure. Refreshing the liquid metal in this […]
Read MoreKnowing What We Know Today August 8, 2017 We learned from history that a Roanoke Colony colony disappeared in 1587. The Anglo-Spanish war prevented anyone from sailing back to the colonists until 1590. If industries finally chase after the mineral riches on the moon, they will need a colony there, and sustainable plans will be required. There is a huge opportunity to advance our science and engineering by setting these large goals, but we must also remember the legacy of those who have sacrificed as explorers. Surviving in that environment should remind us of contingency plans for those distances. There should be ways to rescue pioneers or miners. Moon Pioneers need long term energy plans and a vast number of […]
Read MoreWritten by Tim Lash, Focus Fusion Society Contributor. Lawrenceville Plasma Physics fusion research has aneutronic hydrogen-boron fueled fusion as its energy production goal. Another fusion project that proposes to use hydrogen-boron fuel takes a clever approach to finding a hot plasma regime. Tri Alpha Energy (TAE) is building a colliding beam fusion reactor. A recent article published in the journal Science Reports outlines a high tech approach to optimize the operating characteristics of their device. By its very nature producing energy via fusion is complex. The science can be daunting, and the machines that attempt to achieve fusion incredibly intricate. These machines generally have a multitude of operating parameters that need to be tuned and calibrated. Response to input parameters […]
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