With the marketing ploys as of late by Rossi et al, regarding cold fusion or more appropriately LENR, the focus has detracted a bit for Hot Fusion.
Now a start up company in Australia is rumored to have a working 1MW Fusion reactor and in the process of developing a 10 MW reactor which will begin
trails in 2012.
Anyone who has followed Fusion, probably already knows about ITER, a massive fusion research project using tokamak reactors:
ITER (originally an acronym of International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering
project, which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of
France.[1]
The ITER project aims to make the long-awaited transition from experimental studies of plasma physics to full-scale electricity-producing fusion power
plants.
The project is funded and run by seven member entities - the European Union (EU), India, Japan, the People's Republic of China, Russia, South Korea
and the United States. The EU, as host party for the ITER complex, is contributing 45% of the cost, with the other six parties contributing 9%
each.[2][3][4]
1
In the shadows of ITER (Probably the largest effort for fusion to date) a unidentified source has come forward claiming fusion success by a small
start up company and its "mad scientist" leader.
Self-funded by mad scientist! The technology’s inventor has apparently tinkered with his design for 40 years, and self-funded the company’s early
stages, reinvesting income from earlier lucrative inventions.
No to takeover offers! The company is said to have already fielded a buyout attempt by General Electric (NYSE:GE). The founder apparently didn’t
want the invention owned by just one corporation, characterizing it an invention for mankind, apparently.
Requisite military involvement!
The company is said to be secretly working with the Australian Air Force and Navy, and the U.S. Department of Defense, and aims to trial a 10MW
version of its reactor in 2012 with an Australian utility.
The release of this information on the Aussie company has been tied in with the latest release of a Kachan report on emerging nuclear technologies.
Forgive my skepticism but perhaps that has something to do with it?
Kachan is a cleantech research and advisory firm. Recently releasing their report
Emerging Nuclear Innovations
This sells for $1,295.00 to a single person.
This report is obviously worth the money to anyone involved in the fusion sector. People looking for investment or perhaps people that want to get the
latest scoop on their competitors.
Of course, the story of the Aussie company comes from an unidentified source, with fantastic claims and has no supporting evidence at all, I am left
to wonder if this is a way for Kachan to generate interest in their informational release.
You can read Kachan's take on the matter here.
It seems like a bait and switch. As the talk of soon to be fusion might draw someone into this story, Kachan does not fail to mention the large
players that are on the forefront of fusion technology.
edit on 19-1-2012 by boncho because: (no reason given)
