Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, a dense plasma fusion energy company, completed raising a $900,000 offering that opened in November 2009 was completed in April 2011. The last 2,000 shares were sold in a 6-hour rush after we announced the availability of the new $2M offering at a higher price.
The $2M to be raised through the new investment round will finance the completion of the proof-of-concept experiments and help commercialize the X-Scan application. LPP feels that the new price is justified by the real progress that the project has made since FF-1 began operations in October 2009. In particular, the downside risk of the investment has been considerably reduced by our demonstration of the technical feasibility of the X-Scan spin–off application.
New experiments in March, 2011 demonstrated for the first time that the main spin-off technology of our research, the X-Scan instrument to inspect roads, bridges, and other major infrastructure, is technically feasible with a DPF similar to our FF-1. While this is only a laboratory demonstration, far from a commercial product, the new experimental evidence indicates that such a commercial product is feasible, given adequate engineering funding. In our view, this considerably increases the chances that LPP will have a profitable product, even before the development of Focus Fusion.
Based on discussions with likely final customers, mainly state departments of transportation, indicate that an X-ray source integrated into an inspection system can yield sales of $20 million a year and profits of at least $3 million a year within two or three years of introduction into the market. This could be achieved in 3-4 years.
A commercial x-ray inspection product, including ruggedizing a DPF sufficiently to be carried by a truck. Even from an experimental standpoint, the variability in the beams will have to be greatly reduced. We expect to be studying this variability intensely in the coming months. However, the demonstration should be sufficient to attract the interest of potential partners in the inspection and non-destructive-testing markets, and we will soon be contacting these potential partners.
This is the Hesco portable linear accelerator system for high energy x-ray inspection of concrete in bridges. This is an overview of the market in infrastructure inspection and the current high energy x-ray examination system.
A repair program cannot succeed unless a correct diagnostic evaluation has been carried out. Diagnostic evaluation includes identification of the basic causes which have caused deterioration and made repair necessary, evaluation of the extent of damage, and feasibility of repair.
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