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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
In transition: Commercializing fusion power
Commercial fusion power is closer than ever. There are now around 30 U.S. fusion companies, several of which claim to be on track to connect to the grid as early as the 2030s.
Tokamak and laser inertial confinement approaches benefit from decades of research at facilities such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and ITER, with alternative concepts including stellarator, magnetic mirror, and Z-pinch confinement also making notable progress as private and government funding for fusion increases.
G. L. Kulcinski, J. F. Santarius, K. Johnson, A. Megahed, R. L. Bonomo
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 72 | Number 3 | October 2017 | Pages 455-460
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1333862
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper describes a system to detect landmines or IEDs by the use of small DD or DT neutron sources carried by a drone. The neutron source is powered by beaming RF or laser energy, at a distance of up to a km from the target, to a relay drone high (≈ 100 meters) above the neutron drone that converts the RF energy to electricity. The relay drone uses the electricity to generate another set of RF waves, and sends the energy down to the neutron drone to power the Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) fusion neutron generator. The neutrons emitted by the IEC generator interrogate the ground below the mobile neutron drone through neutron activation and the orbiting detector drones collect the gamma ray signals to determine the composition and location of the objects below. When the N/C/O signal is close to known chemical explosives signatures, the object is tagged for further investigation.