After 7+ years sucking gas trying for funding, Focus Fusion got proof-of-concept funding late last year. The experimental cell rig is now up, and the scientists are now chasing down a glitch in the trigger mechanism that has slightly delayed first light (initial trial "shot" using deuterium). The design is a very compact plasma focus device, about the size of a hand with fingers upright, that pulses to produce microscopic "plasmoids" which collapse magnetically, producing a few nanoseconds of billion-K°+ temps required to (ultimately) fuse boron and hydrogen.
Costs of prefab generators and their output is guesstimated at about 5% of current industry standard, beginning, it is hoped, 5-7 years from now. If valid, these economics will sweep all other alternatives from the board, including hydro and nuclear fission.
http://focusfusion.org
http://lawrencevilleplasmaphysics.com/
personal email: brianfh01-at-yahoo.ca
Tags: aneutronic, experiment, focus, fusion, nuclear, power
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