Reply To: Fusion Oil

[zapkitty]

Chuctanunda wrote: Thank you, Zapkitty:-) I
realize this is uncharted territory they’re venturing into. Scientific
feasibility is the goal at this stage. I was also looking for the long
term potential. Once scientifically feasible, LPP will be competing
with existing technology, as well as new concepts like the thorium
reactor. Is it possible be gage the likelihood of success at this later
stage of development?

I can say without reservation that, if it works, aneutronic (pB11)
fusion trumps all other power sources under current consideration.

Start off with the simple fact that fusion power generators can never
go critical or melt down. Ever.

And fusion has an extreme advantage over fission insofar as the net
energy from each gram of fuel is concerned… and boron is both cheap
and plentiful.

[em]Aneutronic[/em] fusion then ups the ante with zero radioactive
waste and no debilitating neutron damage to the generator structure.

This will lower total reactor operating costs by a few orders of
magnitude 🙂

And aneutronic fusion enables direct conversion of the fusion energy
output to electricity at high efficiency… no steam, no turbines and
no massive plumbing arrays. This alone would be a game-changer in and
of itself because those turbines are actually the major part of the
cost of a coal or gas-fired plant. So aneutronic fusion will give
extensive savings in this department as well.

And then there’s the Dense Plasma Focus approach to aneutronic fusion:
“Focus Fusion”

Unlike other candidates for aneutronic power such as EMC2’s Polywell or
Tri-Alpha’s CBFR (Colliding Beam Fusion Reactor) the DPF does not
require expensive adjuncts such as superconducting magnets or neutral
particle beam injectors.

Put very simply it’s basically an artfully crafted spark plug and, yet
again, that should lead to [em]substantial[/em] savings in manufacture
and maintenance over competing designs.

Add it all together and you have an energy source that beats out
everything but another aneutronic generator… and even in that arena
the Focus Fusion concept has its own advantages.