Nuclear fusion: Ignition within two years
Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 11:33 pm
So "David Willetts, the UK's science minister" says anyway. BBC News - UK joins laser nuclear fusion project
The BBC should be congratulated, that's the first article on nuclear fusion I can remember that doesn't try to compare any of the research programs with the inside of the Sun. I quite like the way Wikipedia puts it:The power production by fusion in the core varies with distance from the solar center. At the center of the Sun, theoretical models estimate it to be approximately 276.5 watts/cu.m, a power production density that more nearly approximates reptile metabolism than a thermonuclear bomb. Peak power production in the Sun has been compared to the volumetric heats generated in an active compost heap. The tremendous power output of the Sun is not due to its high power per volume, but instead due to its large size.That's not what fusion reactors are trying to achieve. I don't think there's anywhere in the galaxy which does what The National Ignition Facility has done.
I do hope they get there. The other news item this morning about the parlous state of the US grid makes grim reading: A massive power outage has left more than two million people without electricity in the US states of California and Arizona, and in Mexico. It's what you get when a country skimps on infrastructure because it overspends on armaments. Third world make do and mend instead of intelligent design.
The BBC should be congratulated, that's the first article on nuclear fusion I can remember that doesn't try to compare any of the research programs with the inside of the Sun. I quite like the way Wikipedia puts it:The power production by fusion in the core varies with distance from the solar center. At the center of the Sun, theoretical models estimate it to be approximately 276.5 watts/cu.m, a power production density that more nearly approximates reptile metabolism than a thermonuclear bomb. Peak power production in the Sun has been compared to the volumetric heats generated in an active compost heap. The tremendous power output of the Sun is not due to its high power per volume, but instead due to its large size.That's not what fusion reactors are trying to achieve. I don't think there's anywhere in the galaxy which does what The National Ignition Facility has done.
I do hope they get there. The other news item this morning about the parlous state of the US grid makes grim reading: A massive power outage has left more than two million people without electricity in the US states of California and Arizona, and in Mexico. It's what you get when a country skimps on infrastructure because it overspends on armaments. Third world make do and mend instead of intelligent design.