Fusion Message Board

In this space, visitors are invited to post any comments, questions, or skeptical observations about Philo T. Farnsworth's contributions to the field of Nuclear Fusion research.

Subject: Re: Breakeven
Date: Nov 23, 10:45 am
Poster: Richard Hull

On Nov 23, 10:45 am, Richard Hull wrote:

>>I had an opportunity last year to visit Los Alamos labs (about ion beam deposition stuff) and met with people who have previously worked in fusion. They tell me that the Farnsworth fusor can do fusion, but not anywhere near enough to achieve breakeven. They say its a very good way to generate neutrons, however. Does anyone on this board think that breakeven can be achieved with the fusor or a derivative of the fusor? Please let me know on this.
>
>Unless some of us get very creative or lucky, grid losses will plauge the efficiency of Fusor's for years to come. However, I am personally hopeful that the future will hold some unseen development leading to a break even reaction.

Joshua,

The LNL folks are ostensibly correct as far as they go.

First, the fusor we are working with will never do breakeven! It is a training ground, a place to hang one's thinking cap. It is an elegant solution to fusion on a shoestring budget.

Second, for all of LNL's and Princeton's hundreds of millions of the money down a rat hole they are not breaking even with their pet toys either! Yes their toys are big, yes, their toys are impressive and yes, they have a lot of hangers-on suckin' away at the big Federal sugar tit in the sky. They are spinning their wheels with our money. The fusor was barely investigated by their standards of the money. Each lab has the old disease of NIH (not invented here). Nautrally, each seeks funding for their own brand of fusion device. Whether it be tokomaks spinning plasma tubes in horrendous mag fields or the laser "drip" tritium magic bullets of LNL.

The fusor has nothing but room to grow, but only provided someone really looks at the thing with a winning attitude. Right, now only Miley and Bussard are really trying. All are underfunded. Grid losses plague the system, but still allow fusion. Others are investigating different ways of setting up the electrostatic fields for confinement.

We, as amateurs and hopeful investigators, must just strain like a gear box to come up to some level of competence considered marginally minimal in the effort. Everyone starts somewhere and no one has a lock on innovation!

These are "hard sayins'" as an old southern comedian once noted, but nonetheless the state of affairs.

Richard Hull