Posted on 10/08/2013 6:23:05 AM PDT by Red Badger
Researchers at a US lab have passed a crucial milestone on the way to their ultimate goal of achieving self-sustaining nuclear fusion.
Harnessing fusion - the process that powers the Sun - could provide an unlimited and cheap source of energy.
But to be viable, fusion power plants would have to produce more energy than they consume, which has proven elusive.
Now, a breakthrough by scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) could boost hopes of scaling up fusion.
NIF, based at Livermore in California, uses 192 beams from the world's most powerful laser to heat and compress a small pellet of hydrogen fuel to the point where nuclear fusion reactions take place.
The BBC understands that during an experiment in late September, the amount of energy released through the fusion reaction exceeded the amount of energy being absorbed by the fuel - the first time this had been achieved at any fusion facility in the world.
This is a step short of the lab's stated goal of "ignition", where nuclear fusion generates as much energy as the lasers supply. This is because known "inefficiencies" in different parts of the system mean not all the energy supplied through the laser is delivered to the fuel.
But the latest achievement has been described as the single most meaningful step for fusion in recent years, and demonstrates NIF is well on its way towards the coveted target of ignition and self-sustaining fusion.
For half a century, researchers have strived for controlled nuclear fusion and been disappointed. It was hoped that NIF would provide the breakthrough fusion research needed.
In 2009, NIF officials announced an aim to demonstrate nuclear fusion producing net energy by 30 September 2012. But unexpected technical problems ensured the deadline came and went;
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
“Simply put, yes. It’s called “not being a hypocrite”.”
What utter rubbish! Utter, utter self evident rubbish!
“cold fusion” supporters deny that it is fusion or “cold” as they have coined the “low energy nuclear reaction”, Lenr, to explain experimental results.
“cold fusion” doesn’t get any money because no one thinks it worth the candle. It fails in the marketplace. A great infusion of money may or may not produce a useful practical device but obviously no one wants to make that bet. Not even the zealots.
BTTT!
And Hegewisch Dupa, yet again, adds no material substance to the debate.
To coin a phrase, What utter rubbish! Utter, utter self evident rubbish!
Probably less than $10MM has been spent on LENR research by ALL sources,
***That brings up an interesting metric to look at:
Money spent so far * Proponents’ Typical Viability
In the case of hot fusion it would be
~$400,000,000,000 * 50 years = ~2Trillion$Years
Cold fusion:
~$10,000,000 * 2 years = ~20Million$Years
Cold Fusion is 100,000X more cost effective as an investment of resources, wherein those resources are time and money.
So, yes, a person should be 100,000X more critical of hot fusion than cold fusion. We sure don’t see that here on FR.
Seriously, stop with the rubbish! It has clearly been the most successful marketplace innovation since sliced bread Itself; and in terms of investment, well, the Honorable Mr. Ponzi himself couldn’t even hope to do so well. For shame sir!
Big Oil is domed, DOMED!
Whoa! Away too much money is being spent on cold fuaion!
Your anti-LENR irrationality has been exposed down to the 1/100,000th percent. You value neither time, money, nor rationality.
I’m gonna put one these thingies ^ into those brilliant equations AND IT WILL GET SO OMIGAWD WORSE!!! Then you’ll see....
Probably a good thing the Tokamak never really worked. Some physics people think that the only way to tell that it did generate the power predicted would be to measure the smoking hole in the ground.
You’re amazingly consistent — You NEVER add substance to the debate.
Actually Lenr has generated papers, patents, web sites, tinkering, etc. and apparently a good deal of heat unrelated to any actual operation so what’s to be anti?
A person couldn’t make up a story like Lenr, time for a made for t.v. movie or such.
I always wondered what those little things were for.
COIN TEL PRO? Isn’t that an online numismatics club?
I love the hypocrisy of blaming someone for no addition to the ‘debate’, when all that person brought was random multiplication. Me, I took it to another power....
Once again, the truth stings, eh!
"“cold fusion” supporters deny that it is fusion or “cold” as they have coined the “low energy nuclear reaction”, Lenr, to explain experimental results.
For myself, I think it "is" fusion. It's sort of hard to deny the Pd-D data where He4 is the final product, and the energy balance works out as a good approximation of the formation of formation of He4 of around 24 MEV.
But there may be other things going on as well. The phenomenon needs to be fully researched. But of course, the money to do that research isn't available.
"“cold fusion” doesn’t get any money because no one thinks it worth the candle. It fails in the marketplace. A great infusion of money may or may not produce a useful practical device but obviously no one wants to make that bet. Not even the zealots.
Garbage. It may interest you to know that the final recommendation of both examinations of CF/LENR by the Department of Energy "did" recommend that research be funded, at least to the point of understanding what was going on. Yet for some reason that funding never materialized. Who blocked the implementation of those recommendations??
And like it or not, advances in science need to reach a certain level of understanding before industry will invest. And again, like it or not, the funding to develop that data comes largely from federal grant funding.
But again, despite ALL of those artificial obstacles put in the path of development, CF HAS reached the point of scientific certainty that companies ARE now investing.
If the normal path of good science had been followed instead of the anti-LENR political and economic warfare waged by physicists against it, we would very likely have working power units by now.
“Cold fusion” is quite the same. With success far over the horizon (amidst the failures) research money for cold fusion is being measured out sparingly. Rightly so even with a DOE recommendation (note: “recommendation” that is not the same as a grant, etc.) for modest funding.
You say companies are now investing....What companies? How much are they investing? And just what are they investing in?
If Lenr had received the same level of funding as solar power and windmills it would be just as successful.
Bring your checkbook next time. Remember: Lenr just needs money for a practical device to be made.
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