Talk-Polywell.org

Now this should be interesting!

August 6, 2015, 4:15pm to 6:30pm MBG Auditorium

COLLOQUIUM: The Lockheed Martin Compact Fusion Reactor
Dr. Thomas McGuire
Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin Skunkworks is developing a compact fusion reactor concept, CFR. The novel magnetic cusp configuration would allow for stable plasmas in a geometry amenable to economical power plants and power sources. The details of the CFR configuration will be discussed along with a status of the current plasma confinement experiments underway at Lockheed. The presentation will also touch on the potential of a fast development path and challenges to bring such a device to fruition.

For a brief discussion of the project and images of the hardware:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... on-reactor

I emailed Carol Ann Austin, organizer of the colloquium to see if it would be streamed via the Princeton Media Central site. Her reply was:

"Hi. Yes, it will probably be streamed, as long as the speaker signs the PPPL waiver forms.
Thanks."

pdxpyro wrote:I emailed Carol Ann Austin, organizer of the colloquium to see if it would be streamed via the Princeton Media Central site. Her reply was:

"Hi. Yes, it will probably be streamed, as long as the speaker signs the PPPL waiver forms.
Thanks."

Thanks pdxpyro! That sounds encouraging, so lets hope McGuire agrees to the webcast.

4:15 in what time zone?

If they livecast it, someone please post the link and/or capture it.

The abstract page at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory http://www.pppl.gov/events/colloquium-l ... on-reactor has now been updated with the link for live streaming of this colloquium: https://mediacentral.princeton.edu/id/1_wdp1m3et

jrvz wrote:4:15 in what time zone?

That is local time in Princeton, New Jersey so the time zone is Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

crowberry wrote:

jrvz wrote:4:15 in what time zone?

That is local time in Princeton, New Jersey so the time zone is Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

For those that weren't sure, that would be GMT -5. Haven't had caffiene yet, so I can't remember if Daylight Stupid Time makes that -4 or -6, however.

USA Eastern daylight time is -4 GMT. It is -5 hours in my central US daylight saving time zone.

http://www.worldtimebuddy.com/edt-to-gmt-converter

Dan Tibbets

So my not-yet-awake answer, that I changed because it didn't look right, was actually correct (GMT -4 due to Daylight "savings").

The talk was 75 minutes, and ended at 5:30 pm EDT. The reactor is a cusp defined central zone, mirror outer zone to facilitate recirculation, and at the ends to constrain losses at the axis. So, I would call it a modified Polywell. Some discussion was glossed over for the cusp coil support protection, and I am reminded of Polywell and what EMC2 learned. LM is at the science stage and not at the point where scaling is aggressive, but they are not developing new physics was the assertion. There are plasma tests being done where simulation is not possible. Loss areas were mentioned, but the talk was restricted from proprietary requirements.

I am sure others will provide superior reviews, but the above is my attempt. As a comparison, I would suggest Polywell at this point is better developed, but given sparse details on the LM project, I could be mistaken.

I've sent an email to the folks at Princeton asking when it will be posted on the Princeton Media Central site. I'll update as soon as I get a reply.

pdxpyro wrote:I've sent an email to the folks at Princeton asking when it will be posted on the Princeton Media Central site. I'll update as soon as I get a reply.

Response was:
"The file will be available this Monday afternoon."

Thanks for the info, guys! I will try to check the video on Monday!

One vast difference between Polywell and LM's fusion machine (CFR) is that Polywell uses high voltage to drive fusion, but for LM's CFR, they think that heat of fusion will drive the reaction after initial startup. They do this by retaining the fusion byproducts with recirculation aided by the outer mirror magnets.

So, it looks like the power transference will be thermal, possible with molten salt, but those details are to be developed down the road. McGuire's talk devoted a lot to the idea of how to achieve high project development speed.