Tri-Alpha making some noise

Point out news stories, on the net or in mainstream media, related to polywell fusion.

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Enginerd
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:29 am

Post by Enginerd »

TallDave wrote:I doubt anyone is going to get net power from something smaller than a (very expensive, nine figures or more) reactor.
If the latest batch of fusion efforts fail to produce net power (yet again), there is of course the very real fallback position of getting energy from reactors based on the thorium cycle (such as LFTR). Despite being not as clean as fusion power, it is still going to be much cleaner and much more sustainable than burning coal or oil...

Skipjack
Posts: 6805
Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:29 pm

Post by Skipjack »

If the latest batch of fusion efforts fail to produce net power (yet again)
So far there are still at least three teams in the run for net power, Helion , Tri Alpha and EMCs Polywell.

There is also General Fusion, who most of all is facing funding and engineering problems (if I am not mistaken). Their physics do sound very solid though. Anyway, without funding they are on hold and can only do babysteps. So they are not really running right now, more crawling.

In addition to those there is Focus Fusion (which has been critizised a lot by people such as Art and others that are better informed on this than I am). So I am not counting it with the other three (though I really enjoy reading on their progress and I really wish them the best of luck and I applaud their effort).

So with all these efforts in the run, it seems very unlikely that nothing that comes even close to a practical reactor design should show up this time.

Edit: Let me specify "close" I mean in the range of allowing for at least a hybrid fusion/fission- system.

Oh and has anybody actually heard any news from the Helion guys lately?

Betruger
Posts: 2321
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 11:54 am

Post by Betruger »

Tom Ligon wrote:Gotta go with Chris here. There has never been a lack of people looking at alternate approaches to fusion, and the guys with a chance now have been looking for a way for decades.
No, that is what I meant. That people were working for so long, and now we (seem to) have such imminent progress and possibly success on so many fronts.

I didn't mean curious in the surprising sense, but curious from a historical retrospective sense.. Just peculiar. I can't think of the right word in English.

Thanks for the good contextual replies either way.

icarus
Posts: 819
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 12:48 am

Post by icarus »

It probably has lot to do with the new medium for discussion and exchange of ideas, i.e. the Internet, and less so, the recent spike in energy pricing.

Many different ideas and efforts can get discussed at will, without having to go through the historically slow routes of information exchange, conferences, trade journals, peer review articles, patent filings, snail mail, etc.

The Internet also greatly increases the odds of gaining funding from a random source if you offer near-term financial success ... so "why not just put the idea out there?" is the rationale, and not a bad one in my opinion.

Once you get the lolly you'd better shut the hell up before some else steals it, seems to be the rationale after that ....

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