Fusing two atoms to reduce the total binding energy and gaining energy in the process
The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) has finally been given the go ahead by French authorities. The ITER organisation received a letter from the French Safety Authority, Agence de sûreté nucléaire (ASN), on 20 June 2012 which granted a license to build an experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor in the south of France. Construction of ITER …
Continue reading Plasma Fusion Device Gets Go Ahead from French Government
Fusion energy is similar to Fission (on which nuclear reactors depend) in that both are based on Einsteins famous equation E=MC^2. Pronounced as E equals M C squared. E is the energy released and M is the mass destroyed and C is the speed of light. How is the mass destroyed? Well, nuclear particles will bind to each …
A while back, I responded to a claim from Lawrenceville Plasma Physics that they were close to a commercial fusion reactor. I was annoyed that such claims were being made and even more concerned that such claims were not receiving a strong criticism from the scientific community. I read the paper published in the journal - …
Continue reading Why Lawrenceville Plasma Physics Results are Not Even Wrong; a Detailed Analysis.
I see that Lawrenceville Plasma Physics is back in the news again with the announcement of a collaboration between LPP and an Iranian research institution. The collaboration agreement is for scientific publications on aneutronic fusion, which some sources claim could be a possible route to cheap, safe, clean energy. This blog believes the claim is the result …
Continue reading Lawrenceville Plasma Physics is Back in the News
Magnetized target fusion is a hybrid approach to fusion that lies between magnetic confined fusion (MCF) and inertial confinement (ICF). This is a series contenter for a real fusion reactor and has been described as a low cost path to commercial fusion. It is strickly speaking an inertial method. The density is increased through a …
Continue reading Pulsed Plasma Uses Novel Compression to Achieve a Low Cost Path to Fusion Energy.
Physicists have discovered a possible solution to a mystery that has long baffled researchers working to harness fusion. If confirmed by experiment, the finding could help scientists eliminate a major impediment to the development of fusion as a clean and abundant source of energy for producing electric power. An in-depth analysis by scientists from the …
Continue reading Scientists Propose a Solution to a Critical Barrier to Producing Fusion
A front page special report by Trevor Curwin, on the CNBC website is promoting the Lawrenceville Plasma Physics company. The report claims that "one New Jersey company is continuing a steady march toward commercializing this powerful energy source". In the report Eric Lerner, president of Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, claims that "the next step that is to have an environment …
NASA Goddard PhotoSolar flares Solar flares continually erupt from the surface of the sun. These powerful surges of plasma can reach the earths magnetic field. The number of flares and sunspots fluctuate each year reaching a maximum every approximate eleven years. The Sun was due to reach a solar maximum in its 11 year cycle in 2011 …
Continue reading A Carrington event is a massive plasma solar flare – a ring of fire
When I was a postgraduate student I published my first scientific paper. I was very worried that the paper would be inaccurate. I spent several months reviewing the content before I finally submitted the work for publication. My supervisor reassured me by saying that there are three types of scientific publications: The ones that are …
Continue reading Not even wrong, Fusion Energy at Lawrenceville Plasma Physics
Lots of plasma fusion stories this week, lithium lining work at PPPL. I notice the article points out that lithium is so light it floats in water – not for very long. Puff!! http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S33/23/37O88/
Mike B Hopkins 