Up to now the problem of controlled thermonuclear synthesis is
technically unsolved. Many approaches have failed miserably, including
laser heating of solid state target, heating of that target by ion
beam or using inertial Z-pinch effect with unavoidable complete
reconstruction of the whole current-carying structure inside the
reactor after each microblow, as well as many attempts to confine
current-heated hot plasma in magnetic field. The obvious fact is that
none of these routes was able to produce plasma suitable for energy
production as a result of thermonuclear synthesis.
For three of above mentioned four routes for possible energy
production, the major task for near future is the demonstration of the
technical possibility to produce plasma with suitable parameters for
energy production in a single experiment. Even if that ambitious task
will be successfully accomplished (which is quite probable), it is a
far cry from creation of industrial thermonuclear stations Obstacles
on the way of construction of economically justifiable electric
generation unit are such, that work for their overcoming (judged by
the current level technical possibilities and obvious technical
difficulties as well as cost) will take at least some tenths of years.

Surprisingly enough, it is possible to go to the same goal by another
way.

From Louson’s criterion one get that if a small volume (of the order
of 0.01 cubic centimeters) of fifty-fifty solid state deuterium-
tritium mixture can be quickly (during less than 2 ns) heated up to
the temperature of 10 keV, the thermonuclear reaction will be ignited.
This small volume corresponds to the mass of dt-plasma of the order of
1 milligram.
To be specific, let us consider the above-mentioned dt-target with a
mass of the order of 1 milligram in the solid (freezed) state. Let us
make the bullet from this target. And then accelerate the bullet up to
the energy of 10-30 keV, which corresponds to velocity of the one
million meters per second. This energy is optimal for thermonuclear
reaction to proceed. After striking another target, situated in the
reactor, the atomic layers of the bullet almost instantaneously become
a plasma. And bullet cannot be reflected from the target similar to
elastic collision of two solid bodies. Simply because to be reflected
the nucleus of the bullet must strike the nucleus of the target, which
is rather improbable event. So, if bullet stopped, than it loses its
energy and a significant part of that energy transforms into heat.
Since kinetic energy of the bullet is mainly concentrated in the ions,
which penetrate the target at least through some atomic layers,
becoming itself a target material for subsequent striking ions, one
can expect a tremendous compression of the bullet material and
accordingly the plasma density, which finally provides the condition
for nuclear reaction ignition.
In this way the problem of extremely fast heat up of the bullet
material is solved. Obviously, the same effect can be accomplished by
collision of two equally sized bullets in the volume of thermonuclear
reactor and then the opportunity arise to reduce the mass and velocity
of each of the bullets and, what is important, the fuel can be
delivered into reactor not cool enough after previous microblow. It
is also obvious that bombarding dt-target by accelerated macroparticle-
bullet, which can be made from another material, nicely solves the
major problem of very fast plasma heating.
The only problem to be solved is how one can accelerate neutral
maroparticles up to very high velocities needed. And how these
machines (accelerators) can be constructed to be relatively cheep and
of acceptable dimensions?

The answer can be found at my site: www.v-ioffe.ru
Valery M. Ioffe, Novosibirsk, Russia.

In appendix 12 one can find the answer.
“An alternative approach to solving the thermonuclear synthesis
problem”.

The z-machine!

The Sandia Laboratories Z-IFE project aims to solve the practical
difficulties in harnessing fusion power. Major problems include
producing energy in a single Z-pinch shot, and quickly reloading the
reactor after each shot. By their early estimates, an implosion of a
fuel capsule every 10 seconds could economically produce 300 MW of
fusion energy.

from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_machi...Energy_program
http://www.sandia.gov/LabNews/070427.html

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