Re: DON'T LOSE time and money around the fusion energy illusion and the lunar-helium-3 dream!!!

In article <1188489530.679356.21340@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Ian Parker <ianparker2@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

[Re. the polywell approach]

It would seem that what you are advocating isd a single pass. You
cannot get an appreciable percentage of atoms fusing on a single
encounter.

You don't need to. The ions which fail to fuse on the first pass
continue on up the potential well, then "roll" back down again for
another try. Bussard and Krall have done the math and run experiments
that support the math, and it appears to work.

Current well-supported rumors are that the Navy is funding development
of WB-7, which will be a more sturdily-built version of WB-6 that also
incorporates all lessons learned on that and previous machines. It
should provide ample data to show whether or not this approach is going
to work. And, according to the same rumors, if it does, the Navy will
pony up the full $200M or so to build a full-scale net-positive reactor.
So this could all be over in the next five years.

--
"Polywell" fusion -- an approach to nuclear fusion that might actually work.
Learn more and discuss via: <http://www.strout.net/info/science/polywell/>
.