Dr. Robert Bussard is a former Assistant Director of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. The video that follows is a presentation at Google from late 2006. This is a fascinating lecture on the alternative to thermonuclear fusion research and the revival of an older idea, that of Inertial Electrostatic Confinement. Fusion is a hot subject, not just within academia (it’s less than two years that the international community has agreed on ITER and this troubled project is due for completion by 2013), but also in the economy and society in general (eco-conscience development, climate change, dependency on diminishing and expensive oil supplies). According to Bussard’s presentation, further developments on IEC might render thermonuclear fusion an obsolete idea and make fusion a reality much faster (and cheaper/easier) than expected. Dr. Bussard’s company managed to get really ‘interesting’ results with their Polywell project, before his funding run out in 2006 (due to Iraq war cutbacks), according to his Wikipedia page. So now he is travelling all over the U.S. trying to secure funding to develop the next prototype that will make or break his predictions. It’s highly ironic that while his contract has not been terminated — he’s still supported by the U.S. Navy, he’s just not given any additional funding, which means that they don’t think his work is not worth it, they just can’t pay him — and while the U.S. Government is pouring billions of dollars occupying Iraq, they cannot provide the $200 million a respected scientist potentially on the brink of the most incredible scientific discovery imaginable.
So what if Bussard is right? Well, if he’s right and the actual development of capable reactors is as simple (in terms of the engineering) as he claims, the economic, social and cultural ramifications will be tremendous. According to his presentation, given the required funding, the development of a functioning proof of concept reactor could become reality within five years with a commercial solution ready 6-10 years after that — these estimates are several decades ahead of any estimate for commercially viable thermonuclear solution.
For more information on his work check out this site.
