Written by Tim Lash, Focus Fusion Society Contributor. Edited by Ignas Galvelis, Supervising Director. A team of Princeton University researchers hope to create fusion power rockets. One proposed use would be to enable rapid mission payloads to Pluto. The New Horizons spacecraft ended a nine year journey to Pluto in 2015 with a dramatic flyby. A fusion driven mission could deliver both an orbiter and lander to Pluto in just four years. Princeton Satellite Systems (PSS) and the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab (PPPL) are collaborating to develop Direct Fusion Drive: a revolutionary direct-drive, fusion-powered rocket engine. The rocket engine being designed by PSS uses magnetic confinement to create a ring of plasma. This plasma would be composed of deuterium and […]
Read MoreWritten by Tim Lash, Focus Fusion Society Contributor. Edited by Ignas Galvelis, Supervising Director. In March an international team of physicists reported on a novel approach to nuclear fusion. Foregoing the standard containment approaches, they propose using ultra-short bursts of lasers to nudge nuclei together. These photonic nudges could be used to provide the conditions for nuclei to overcome their electrostatic repulsion until the strong force could take over. Once nuclei are in close enough proximity the chance of fusion reaction becomes much more likely. Scientists from Rice University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Chile collaborated on a two dimensional simulation between deuterium and tritium. Authors Peter Wolynes of Rice, Martin Gruebele of Illinois and […]
Read MoreWritten by Tim Lash, Focus Fusion Society Contributor. Edited by Ignas Galvelis, Supervising Director. A team of European scientists has published findings revealing a better understanding of plasma dynamics allowing tokamak designs to take another step forward. In tokamak reactors, a catastrophic effect can occur known as runaway electrons. In these scenarios, free electrons in the plasma can form coherent currents of as much as one million amperes. These electron currents have the potential to breach the plasma containment fields and cause serious damage to the reactor. In a recent Letter to Physical Review, the team describe a method for countering such rogue currents thereby protecting the reactor from damage. Their method entails injecting neon (atomic number 10) or argon […]
Read MoreWritten by Tim Lash, Focus Fusion Society Contributor. Edited by Ignas Galvelis, Supervising Director. After 6.3 sextillion (6.3×10^21) CPU cycles of the Titan super computer running at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF), a team of researchers has successfully simulated the spontaneous transition of turbulence at the edge of a fusion plasma from low confinement mode (L-mode) magnetic containment to high confinement mode (H-mode). It took three days for Titan to run this simulation. The simulation itself was modeling a mere 270 microseconds of real time plasma behavior. U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) physicists utilized 90 percent of Titan’s capacity during that three-day time-slot. The Titan machine is the nation’s most powerful supercomputer for […]
Read MoreWritten by Tim Lash, Focus Fusion Society Contributor. Edited by Ignas Galvelis, Supervising Director. Last fall Lawrenceville Plasma Physics Fusion (LPP Fusion) Chief Scientist Eric Lerner was the featured speaker for the New York City Physics and Astronomy Meetup groups. Fortunately, the event was captured on video and recently released as a YouTube video series named ”The New Race to Fusion.” Mr. Lerner spoke to the assembled groups for over an hour on the current state of fusion research including his own. He also touched on the background of several ongoing fusion efforts, as well as their best fusion results. Most interesting were the comparisons made between these current outcomes and those of his own Focus Fusion-1 device. Based on a […]
Read MoreWritten by Tim Lash, Focus Fusion Society Contributor. Edited by Ignas Galvelis, Supervising Director. MIT Assistant Professor Zach Hartwig is attempting to leverage his work with new high-temperature superconducting magnets to improve many endeavors in high energy physics. His primary focus using these new magnets aims to improve the prospects for viable fusion power. Magnetic confinement nuclear fusion reactors depend on strong magnetic fields. Applying new magnet technologies that produce fields with record strength will make smaller reactors possible. These smaller reactors will still be able to yield output power equal to the largest reactors currently being built. REBCO (a single-crystal material composed of yttrium, barium, copper, oxygen and other elements) is a new superconducting material that has the potential […]
Read MoreWhen it comes to analysis of return on investment within the energy field, the smart money is on renewables and alternative energy sources. We all know that fossil fuel availability is set to decline, but just how far that decline is reflected concerning return on investment in fossil fuel – based energy businesses has remained something of a gray area. Until now, that is. A major blow to fossil fuel industries across the world has been delivered in the form of the decision of AMP Capital to reduce their financial exposure to fossil fuel investments, for more ethical, ‘greener’ forms of energy. AMP Capital has decided that funds under their control will no longer invest in companies that gain more […]
Read MoreWith energy bills rising dramatically in most developed countries throughout the world, many industry pundits are now seriously wondering whether a lack of timely investment in renewable energies has compromised the drive to replace traditional power supply methods. The push to substitute oil, gas, and nuclear generators with wind, hydroelectric, and solar power alternatives has achieved a good pace, but some have found that there is a price to pay if the old infrastructure is not dismantled or cut back at the same speed. America, often seen as a dinosaur in the energy world, and apt to slow change is leading the way with new properties being built with basic solar power capabilities, and both hydro-electric and wind alternatives being […]
Read MoreCan Focus Fusion Deliver The Highest Return On Investment In Energy Production? Things are heating up fast for the renewable energy sector as the trend of significant funds divesting from fossil fuel investments continues. The latest major investment company to bail out is Australia’s AMP Capital, which recently announced that its “responsible” funds are now prohibited from investing in some mining and energy sector stocks. ‘‘We believe there are sufficient alternatives to the coal-fired generation that meant that we were happy to exclude thermal coal mining,’’ said Ian Woods, AMP’s head of environmental, social and governance research. This change came about as an independent committee reviewing Norway’s $840bn (£503bn) Sovereign Wealth Fund’s exposure to carbon-intensive companies, is set to submit […]
Read MoreIs it Time for Focus Fusion Energy Taking of Center Stage? Investment in Fossil Fuels is Diminishing World View on Climate Change is Driving Energy Investment Can a Crowd Source Project Save the World? Investment Concerns over Oil and Gas Last month one of the leading infrastructure investment companies, AMP Capital barred its responsible fund managers from investing in fossil fuel companies. The decision brought this aspect of AMP’s business into line with similar decisions taken by Northern European Banks, and several church funds. AMP Capital stated it was the ‘‘growing interest and concern’’ on climate change which fuelled its decision to block investment in fossil fuel industries. These concerns are not just changing the view of investment houses, but […]
Read More