On Aug 23, 2007, at 8:00 AM, Jed Rothwell wrote:
Jones Beene wrote:
Horace
Since fusion reactions get far less out than 100 MeV per two
reactions, there is no chance a self sustaining hot fusion
reaction was obtained.
Yes. It looks like - on second thought, you are correct. There was
no probably no real "runaway" after all . . .
Probably, but we cannot be sure.
We can be absolutely sure it was nowhere near self-sustaining at the
neutron numbers given. Aside from the fact the fusor would suddenly
have to become 10,000 times more efficient, it would have to
miraculously change from an AC driven inertial confinement device to
some new undesigned unanticipated and impossible DC confinement
device. The fusor is an inertial device. It alternates compaction
with expansion, and drives nuclei, at low pressure, in both
directions across the central spherical screen. It can not achieve a
"self-sustaining" reaction in the same sense a tokamak can. It can
only produce more energy out than in on a pulse by pulse basis, so
shutting off the power kills the neutron production.
Horace Heffner
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/
