I guess it’ll do until we get dilithium crystals.
Perfect target for the new Muslim guests.
First they played with forces they didn’t understand and pushed us into a parallel universe where America spies on it’s own citizens and Russia lectures us on Christian values.
Now with this “Stellerator” they are likely to make us all “Fabulous”.
Back in the heady days of the atomic age, farm implement manufacturer Allis-Chalmers built one of the first stellarators.
A that point it will be ready to blow off a full head of steam. The Stanlyrator will blow off even more, helping to reach the full potential needed for fusion.
- we return your television sets to their normal programming -
Stelaaaaaa.....
Technically we are still in the steam age.
I want my Mr. Fusion...NOW!
Inertial electrostatic confinement.
The concept came about in the 1920’s as a part of vacuum tube development.
The concept is currently used as a compact, non nuclear reactor source of fast neutrons.
The technology is close to a century old, and has been researched by some of the best engineers and scientists in American history, yet nobody has really expanded on all of that research since the 1960’s, outside of a few researchers.
Put it this way, with equipment that I can scavenge and assemble in my garage, I can produce a contained fusion reaction that can acheive a 10^14 neutron output for less than 1KW input power.
The trick is energy gain, and direct conversion from reaction to electrical output. Anything less is just a waste. You would need a net energy gain of 200 (input/output) to be economically feasile. And, once the reaction is started, the system needs to be self sustaining, meaning 200 energy gain PLUS energy required for balance of plant operation.
Thanks to this advance, practical fusion energy is probably just 10 to 15 years away . . . which is the same delay time we’ve assumed for several decades now.
