Reply To: NIMBY FUD

[asymmetric_implosion]

I view the problem as one of v, velocity, in the . If the ion distribution is Maxwellian, the problem is pretty straightforward as you described. The real problem is when the ion distribution must be calculated. If you know you have a Maxwellian distribution, you can go forth with relative ease. The problem in Tokamek, Z-pinches fusion and other plasma based systems is the ions can have bumps on the tail of the distribution. I am not familiar with Sonoluminescence based fusion techniques but my guess is they have a thermal distribution due to a large collision frequency and the absence of a magnetic field. The laser, if powerful (>1 TW), could lead to fast ions but you need to do some calculations on the thermalization time of the ions. If the thermalization time is short compared to other time scales like the applied power pulse or some characteristic lifetime, you can assume a Maxwellian distribution with reasonable accuracy. Other sources of fusion are not so lucky in a computational sense.

One could argue that the fusion cross section is not taken in fine enough increments but that is the typical problem of cross section data. More could be done but the gains are viewed as small at this time.