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6/28/2005 Alt Energy. (bbc). France to Host First Fusion Reactor / Is Fusion a Good Idea?
" Fusion works on the principle that energy can be released by forcing together atomic nuclei rather than by splitting them, as in the case of the fission reactions that drive existing nuclear power stations.
In the core of the Sun, huge gravitational pressure allows this to happen at temperatures of around 10 million degrees Celsius. At the much lower pressure that is possible on Earth, temperatures to produce fusion need to be much higher - above 100 million degrees Celsius. A commercial reactor is not expected before 2045 or 2050 - if at all."
For a view skeptical of Fusion, read this. " Claims that fusion would be free of radioactive waste are a cruel deception. ... Thermonuclear reactor research is part of weapons research. Some forms of it are used to simulate nuclear explosions in a laboratory. It has virtually nothing to do with electricity generation. ... The deuterium / tritium fusion reaction (the type of fusion easiest to achieve, requires the lowest temperatures) releases a very high energy neutron that can "induce" radioactivity in nearby materials. "
1/27/2005 Alt Energy Bubble Fusion Revisited - Sonic compression fusion results replicated
Psst. Want a solution to the upcoming energy crisis? "With sonofusion, one gallon of heavy water at a fuel cost of just $200 would release about the same energy as one million gallons of gasoline (approximately 40,000 barrels of oil)."
Speaking of sonofusion, remember this story? "THREE years ago, the publication of a single paper turned the world of fusion research upside down. The paper made the jaw-dropping claim that thermonuclear fusion had been observed in a beaker of nail polish remover bombarded with neutrons and sound waves. The newly discovered phenomenon, "sonofusion", seemed to overturn a generation of work on fusion and promised almost limitless cheap energy - a claim that guaranteed the research worldwide media coverage.
Fusion researchers were stunned, but on closer inspection they realised something was wrong. Surprise soon gave way to disbelief and then anger. The paper, cried the physicists, was severely flawed. Sonofusion should be confined to the realms of junk science, they said. And there the story might have ended.
But something remarkable has emerged from the debris. The researchers behind the original claim have slowly begun to convert their critics with new, more persuasive evidence." - newscientist
Some details: "The research team used a standing ultrasonic wave to help form and then implode the cavitation bubbles of deuterated acetone vapor. The oscillating sound waves caused the bubbles to expand and then violently collapse, creating strong compression shock waves around and inside the bubbles. Moving at about the speed of sound, the internal shock waves impacted at the center of the bubbles causing very high compression and accompanying temperatures of about 100 million Kelvin.
These new data were taken with an upgraded instrumentation system that allowed data acquisition over a much longer time than was possible in the teams previous bubble fusion experiments. According to the new data, the observed neutron emission was several orders of magnitude greater than background and had extremely high statistical accuracy. Tritium, which also is produced during the fusion reactions, was measured and the amount produced was found to be consistent with the observed neutron production rate." - scienceblog.com
4/14/04 Alt Energy / Physics Many problems on Earth could be solved by a single working invention: controlled thermonuclear Fusion Power. In 2014 at a cost of $3.49 billion the first fusion reaction to generate more power than is used is projected.
Clean safe unlimited energy from sea water would not contribute to global warming and would eventually end wars over oil resources. The fuel is abundant. A quart of fusion fuel contains the energy of 6600 tons of coal. 1
Fusion could also be used to deactivate fission reactor waste, the type produced by our nuclear power plants.
In 2001 we read that fusion power was 'within reach'. Where are we today?
According to one site "The President has made achieving commercial fusion power the highest long-term energy priority for our Nation. - DOE Office of Science Strategic Plan February, 2004"
One military site says "major depletion of ... (energy) resources will occur in this century." Can we make it in time? Many are involved in the research. Livermore's Nova lasers have been able to start low-level fusion but the reaction fizzles out once the laser blast ends. New National Ignition Facility (NIF) experiments will be the first to create a fusion reaction that gives off more energy than it takes in according to the times-herald. This reactor will not solve our energy problems, however. "In order to power a large city ... a reactor would need to burn pellets 10 to 50 times larger than NIF's, once a second (NIF is designed to fire a full-scale blast perhaps a couple of times a month)." One projection shows no large scale electricity production for at least the next 50 years, but there are many unknowns.
4/14/03: Controlled fusion lab at Livermore! The huge clear 500 lb potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystals are now grown in about a month.
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