[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] Nuclear fusion...

[Michael Alexander]

 I will be interested to learn what Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL) and Department of Energy (DOE) people have to say about this "scientific breakthrough".  Undoubtedly it's a tremendous technical achievement, but right now I have reservations.
As I've understood the LLNL project, it's based on suddenly compressing a pellet of fusible -- hydrogen-containing, with tailored proportions of deuterium and tritium -- material.  To accomplish the compression, LLNL has constructed an array of synchronized high power lasers.  The pellet is dropped into the spot where the laser beams intersect; when the pellet reaches that spot, the lasers fire, compressing the pellet to achieve the conditions for fusion (light carries momentum).  I presume that, in order to create actual power generation, pellets will be dropped, one after the other, with lasers repetitively firing.
This is a super-complicated scheme, which makes me wonder whether it can be used to produce energy continuously and reliably over months and years (assuming the energy can be extracted reliably and continuously).  Moreover, I wonder how many such installations power companies would build and install, and whether they will develop the technical competence to run them.  It will be interesting.
As a language purist of sorts, by the way, I object to the achievement being touted as a scientific breakthrough: It is an engineering breakthrough.

    -- Mike Alexander


    On Monday, December 12, 2022 at 05:29:53 PM EST, Drew King (dking65 at kingconsulting.us) <dking65 at kingconsulting.us> wrote:  
 
 All,

The Verge: A “scientific breakthrough” in nuclear fusion? How to watch the announcement tomorrow.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/12/23505416/nuclear-fusion-scientific-breakthrough-how-to-watch-announcement-biden

-- 
Drew King

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