Reply To: would nuclear energy really be accessible to all?

[Aeronaut]

zapkitty wrote:

If I understand correctly, a charged particle beam is created by the fusion reaction in the plasmoid. The beam will exit the pinch and be directed to the solenoid, which converts the concentrated energy into electricity. I presume this will be hot, as with a lightning strike? And it will be focused into a beam which would mean a small surface area will be impacted. Can it be absorbed without damage to the solenoid, long term?

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I’d assumed that the power takeoff for the alpha particles would be via pass-through coils and thus no physical impact with anything until the helium ions had been slowed way down by those coils?

As this is a very predictable beam one doesn’t need plates scattered across the interior of the containment volume ala a polywell and thus no need for impacts.

It’s the electron beam heading in the opposite direction that would pose a threat to equipment.

Also like the polywell, the electric output pulses will very likely have verry high voltages, which would lead to higher currents. Any way you slice it, this is a lot of power in a very small volume, I expect it to need hefty cooling, which the patent confirms near the end. The patent assumes that the onion is going to be the biggest set of challenges to commercializing FF as an electric generator. Cooling and manufacturing in any kind of volume are significant engineering challenges in their own right.