This animation shows a close up of the projectile/target interaction inside the reaction vessel for First Light Fusion. They electromagnetically launch a projectile to create inertial fusion. They do not use a laser. the target implodes faster than the projectile. They were getting velocity multipliers by 10X back in 2019. They think the onward path …
LLNL’s experiment surpassed the fusion threshold by delivering 2.05 megajoules (MJ) of energy to the target, resulting in 3.15 MJ of fusion energy output, demonstrating for the first time a most fundamental science basis for inertial fusion energy (IFE). Many advanced science and technology developments are still needed to achieve simple, affordable IFE to power …
The Bussard Ramjet drive has been proven not to work, but laying out a runway of fuel could work. This has been examined in more detail. Fuel is deliberately emplaced in the path of the spacecraft before the flight. Kare proposed that, at the velocities proposed for interstellar flight, nuclear fusion can be accomplished at …
There are three main types of nuclear fusion and PB11 (hydrogen-boron) is the most desired. PB11 nuclear fusion would have almost no neutron radiation but it takes 1 billion degree temperatures instead of 100 million for deuterium tritium or about 500 million for deuteriurm-deuterium. The PALS laser facility in Prague has reported a major advance …
I have a farely comprehensive understanding of the huge challenges needed to create commercial nuclear fusion power. This is why I am more optimistic about molten salt nuclear fission. I try to explain this in two videos. However, this is a complex topic. I will try to state this as clearly and briefly as possible …
Can we get nuclear reactors that are walkaway safe with no physical possibility of meltdown? Can we have energy that is a hundred times safer than solar and a million times safer than coal? Can we solve CO2 emissions and air pollution? Can we get energy that is much cheaper and more abundant for a …
Commonwealth Fusion Systems and MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) have demonstrated a magnet with a record-breaking 20 Tesla magnetic field. This is the core technology that they planned to create. They now have to mass produce the supoerconducting magnets one tenth the cost cost and assemble them as part of a net energy …
Avalanche is a VC-backed, fusion energy start-up based in Seattle, WA. They are designing, testing and building micro-fusion reactors that you can hold in your hand. Their modular reactor design can be stacked for endless power applications and unprecedented energy density to provide clean energy and decarbonize the planet. Avalanche is developing a 5kWe power …
Zap Energy creating the first plasmas in their FuZE-Q prototype. They achieved Q=1 where the process of nuclear fusion inside a plasma yields more energy than was consumed to create the plasma. In 2021, Zap Energy used sheared-flow stabilization to extend the lifetime of Z-pinch plasmas at 500 kiloamps (kA) of current. Zap’s sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch …
First Light used a large two-stage hyper-velocity gas gun to launch a projectile at a target, containing the fusion fuel and achieved fusion. The projectile reached a speed of 6.5 km per second before impact. First Light’s highly sophisticated target focuses this impact, with the fuel accelerated to over 70 km per second (151,000 mph) …
