Lets make sure it's called the 'Bussard Reactor'

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TallDave
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Post by TallDave »

If "Bussard Fusion Reactor" is too unwieldy, we can informally refer to it as a BuFR (boofer).

"Time to fire up the boofer!"

"How much for a 100MW boofer?"

"Man, those boofers are everywhere these days."

etc.
n*kBolt*Te = B**2/(2*mu0) and B^.25 loss scaling? Or not so much? Hopefully we'll know soon...

Torulf2
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Post by Torulf2 »


bobshipp
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Post by bobshipp »

Looking down the road, I think the name we may want to get to eventually is a "Boron Fusor". It has no immediate negative implications. It does roll off the tongue nicely. In fact, we may now be entering the Boron Age. So for the time being lets just call it a Fusor.

choff
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Post by choff »

The general public will probably refer to the Bussard reactor as a "Nuke" or "Nuke Plant." If you ran a survey on the street asking who invented television I doubt if even 10% would know the name "Farnsworth."
CHoff

Betruger
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Post by Betruger »

All the public needs to see is a clear enough contrast between fusion or even tokamaks and polywell, for it to be undeniably not just a "nuke".

Helius
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Post by Helius »

Betruger wrote:All the public needs to see is a clear enough contrast between fusion or even tokamaks and polywell, for it to be undeniably not just a "nuke".

We tend to underestimate the public around here. If aneutronic fusion were ever possible, it would be embraced by the general public until it got so prolific that problems arose. They'll still call it a "nuke" though, just a little more lovingly than the Pressurized Water Reactor in the next county that just might make them have to flee.

Betruger
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Post by Betruger »

Well... Then it ought to at least be a "Bussard Nuke", or something..

jormungandr
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Post by jormungandr »

Betruger wrote:All the public needs to see is a clear enough contrast between fusion or even tokamaks and polywell, for it to be undeniably not just a "nuke".
Well, you could call it a Bussard Electro-Nuclear Hybrid Reactor... BENHR?

It does have to have Bussard in the name. It would be nice if he had more to his name than the Bussard Ramscoop (Especially if it is something that works!)

Bussard Pollywell Reactor works too, and the TLA would be a cute BPR ... beeper.

Though I think it's doomed to be referred to as a "nuke plant" or a "nooclear reactor" depending on who you ask.

Betruger
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Post by Betruger »

My gut feeling is that if the public first hears about it with a name simple enough, like said above, in tandem with some mention that the design and/or the power output/kWh cost is a whole new story from the previous or other designs, then there's a much better chance that people will remember a more specific name. So what we could scheme and plot ahead of time is how to get the media to report the name we want when/if the news first breaks out.

Torulf2
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Post by Torulf2 »

Make sure all the old VB- ..4.5.6.7… are being saved for the Bussard fusion museum.

Tom Ligon
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Post by Tom Ligon »

Dr. Bussard never referred to interstellar ramjets as "Bussard Ramjets", and he would never have called a Polywell (r) reactor a BFR. That never stopped anyone else, and I like BFR.

Polywell is actually trademarked by EMC2. Magrid is not (I was surprised at that, because I think it is the key component). Alas, Wiffle Ball (r) is trademarked by the corporation of that name, although I've found no evidence wiffleball is. However, if I were CEO of Wiffle Ball (r), I'd gladly license the use of the name for something that saves the world.

D Tibbets
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Post by D Tibbets »

In stead of BFR for Bussard Fusion Reactor( BFR), change it to Bussard Fusion System (BFS). Eventually, it could be shortend to Bussard System ( BS ). That way,when Scotty see's a really big and powerful Bussard System, he can say- "that is really alot of BS".



Dan Tibbets
To error is human... and I'm very human.

drmike
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Post by drmike »

:D

So when I tell someone I've got a nuclear powered flame thrower and they reply "that's a bunch of BS!" I can say, yes, it is!

Tom Ligon
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Post by Tom Ligon »

Torulf2,

The old machines are all still around, lined up in a row in Dr. Nebel's office.

Here's hoping the present results will lead to demand for a really nice museum!

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