fusion reactor & design flaws?

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@ix.netcom.com>]

Another article I found today regarding a previous post on potential 
design issues with the international fusion reactor. 
---------------------------------

AUSTIN, Texas,  -- Two physicists at the University of 
Texas are calling for an altered design for the $10 billion
international fusion reactor, after their calculations showed that it
will produce far less power than anticipated. 
 For almost half a century, scientists have been trying to create a 
workable fusion reactor, which requires continously fusing hydrogen
atoms from water to create a source of energy similar to that in the
sun. 
 William Dorland, 31, and Michael Kotschenreuther, 38, scientists at 
UT's Institute for Fusion Studies, have stirred up their peers at
scientific meetings and in the journal Science by claiming that a
planned international fusion reactor will fizzle. 
 The $10 billion International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor is 
expected to have a good shot at continuous operation by the year 2015.

 But the UT scientists said Monday other designs have a better chance 
 of making the technology work, while also making it smaller and
cheaper. 
 The international reactor's current design is intended to control 
turbulence, which has long been a major roadblock to fusion reactors.
Dorland and Kotschenreuther contend that the ITE reactor will be too
big and its doughnut chamber the wrong shape to control turbulence. 
 The UT researchers said alternative shapes may help control  
turbulance. 
 Fusion is the opposite of fission, in which energy is created by 
splitting atoms apart. Scientists believe that fusion reactors will be
cheaper than nuclear reactors and produce substantially less
radioactive waste. 

Sandy Perle
Director, Technical Operations
ICN Dosimetry Division
Office: (800) 548-5100 Ext. 2306 
Fax: (714) 668-3149

E-Mail: sandyfl@ix.netcom.com    

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