Favorable Comments made by ONR on Polywell Fusion

[Roger]

quote="CaptainBeowulf"]It's also a possible reason for the FOIA denial. If Polywell is showing promise, they don't want to jeopardize things with premature release of information.[/quote] it was turned down in pro forma administrative fasion. There is a publishing embargoe, a FOIA release would represent a fundamental, 180 degree reversal of that policy.

[WizWom]

Dr. Bussard spent a significant portion of his Google talk explaining about the political problem with getting funding from the AEC. The Navy has been doing Polywell outside the AEC plan, which, at this point, must have tacit approval from the AEC, because, honestly, they aren't idiots.

[Mike_P]

I received an email back concerning the symposium:
---
The Engineering the Total Ship 2010 Proceedings will be available for purchase within the next two weeks. We will notify you once they are. The Proceedings are $25 for members and $50 for non-members.

---
It looks like it will take $50 to satisfy my curiosity.

[vankirkc]

I think the fat lady sings sometime between summer of next year and '12. Until then, I would just sit back and wait (no matter how frustrating and impatient that my be).

I don't know why you would assume that this all ends when they reach their deadline. It has been going on in one form or another since the early nineties. Why would a failure now shut the program down when so many before haven't?

[MSimon]

A lot of what is going on in ship design is well proved in aircraft systems. The move to 400 Hz for example.

[kurt9]

I think the fat lady sings sometime between summer of next year and '12. Until then, I would just sit back and wait (no matter how frustrating and impatient that my be).

I don't know why you would assume that this all ends when they reach their deadline. It has been going on in one form or another since the early nineties. Why would a failure now shut the program down when so many before haven't?

The Navy contract has a rather specific set of milestone that must be attained for funding of further development. They do appear to have Dr. Nebel and crew on a rather short leash.

It is true that polywell development has been on-going sporadically since the early 90's. However, the current effort is the first sustained effort. If it is not successful, polywell development might not shut down, but is likely to be sporadic again. At least this is how I read the solicitation documentation.

[ladajo]

The Navy contract has a rather specific set of milestone that must be attained for funding of further development. They do appear to have Dr. Nebel and crew on a rather short leash.

That was done on purpose. Bussard specifically recommended this approach to get further funding for WB6, and then into what became WB7.
It was part of the way he sold the package. Essentially, "look you can bail at any time, we set milestones, if we don't meet, we don't continue. Major milestone will be peer reviewed." <I paraphrase>

[kurt9]

The Navy contract has a rather specific set of milestone that must be attained for funding of further development. They do appear to have Dr. Nebel and crew on a rather short leash.

That was done on purpose. Bussard specifically recommended this approach to get further funding for WB6, and then into what became WB7.
It was part of the way he sold the package. Essentially, "look you can bail at any time, we set milestones, if we don't meet, we don't continue. Major milestone will be peer reviewed." <I paraphrase>

This is because Bussard actually wanted to accomplish something rather than playing the bureaucratic empire-building parasite game.

[KitemanSA]

and here's a presentation about how the Navy views power needs on its ships.

http://ewh.ieee.org/conf/ests09/ESTS-20 ... Doerry.pdf

Nothing, obviously, about Polywell here yet.

On Page 9 of the PDF, in the upper right corner, there is a blurry graphic of something that looks like a Tokamak. Please tell me I'm wrong.

From the list of components on that sheet, I take that to be a fanciful Energy Storage Module. Or not

[MSimon]

and here's a presentation about how the Navy views power needs on its ships.

http://ewh.ieee.org/conf/ests09/ESTS-20 ... Doerry.pdf

Nothing, obviously, about Polywell here yet.

On Page 9 of the PDF, in the upper right corner, there is a blurry graphic of something that looks like a Tokamak. Please tell me I'm wrong.

I was wondering about that myself.

[Mike_P]

It could just have been a convenient graphic to pop into the presentation

[Helius]

A "Mouse over" says "SMES" which means.....
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.c ... gy+Storage

[D Tibbets]

A "Mouse over" says "SMES" which means.....
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.c ... gy+Storage

That brings up the question: Are superconductors a good energy storage mechanism? They can be loaded with a lot of current. Certainly if they fail, they can make a big bang. Can reasonable magnets (such a 5 meter diameter and 10-20 Tesla superconducting magnets store more energy than comparable flywheels? Presumably, they could deliver their energy very quickly, like a capacitor.

Dan Tibbets

[chrismb]

On Page 9 of the PDF, in the upper right corner, there is a blurry graphic of something that looks like a Tokamak. Please tell me I'm wrong.

Either that, or an anti-matter container for star-ship class. Will that be an 'SVN' class?

"beam me up, Scotty!"

...Do you still claim the Navy's interest in a technology [like Polywell] demonstrates evidence of its viability?