Working Hot Fusion is here now

There was a fellow, Dr. Robert Bussard (the guy behind the Bussard Ramjet concept), who used to work on the NASA nuclear rocket project. Apparently it was making excellent progress until the project got cancelled during the Vietnam war. Dr Bussard says they were working on a manned Mars mission project for 1978.

So after his nuclear engine project got cancelled, this guy started working on fusion reactors. The U.S. Navy funded his research for 20 years. This time the budget got cancelled because of the Iraq war. His company was able to make a working model (ie. more power out than in) just before they ran out of money and had to close their lab. They established their own company after this, now run by his colleagues after his recent death. They are looking for funding to create a demonstration reactor.

The U.S. energy commission apparently will only fund the Tokomak fusion technology which has so far proved unsuccessful. There is huge money though involved and they’ve never shown any interest in Bussard’s technology.

Here’s a fascinating interview with him before he died where he describes his reactor, describes why the mainstream Tokomak reactors can't work, and why cold fusion is only workable on a small scale.
Dr. Bussard Interview

Here’s a link to his company’s web site:
EMC2 web site

Info on the reactor from the International Academy of Science who gave him an award for Outstanding Technology of the Year in 2006:
Bussard's Fusion Reactor

[edit on 18-6-2008 by ghofer]
More info: One interesting thing about this reactor is that when used with Boron ions, it produces no neutron radiation. Three Helium atoms are generated which can exit the reactor directly into the power grid giving the process 95% efficiency. Alternatively, it can be used in the conventional way where the heat can be used to drive steam turbines. This would allow it to be retrofitted into existing nuclear power plants.

[edit on 18-6-2008 by ghofer]
Technical article describing the development history and the physics of the reactor:
Reactor Physics

[edit on 18-6-2008 by ghofer]