ALERT: This page, and others covering this project, are severely out-of-date, but will be updated as soon as possible. Please contact me for current status.

Nuclear Fusion Project

The Nuclear Fusion Project is currently my largest and most resource-hungry project in progress. It began during my junior year in high school, and I have worked on it on an intermittent basis (in order to prevent personal burnout and allow other activities to receive attention) since then. The goal is to construct a working and reliable nuclear fusion reactor for research purposes. The concept employed is known as Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion, and is arguably the most accessible fusion process for the amateur scientist because the equipment and materials necessary are well within the reach of the determined individual.

The Fusion Project chamber in a more-or-less complete state, February 2007

IECF concept overview

Yes, it's real fusion.

Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion (IECF), not to be confused with "cold fusion", is well-documented and fully verifiable. It involves accelerating light nuclei (generally deuterium, but sometimes tritium and/or helium-3) radially towards a central region in a high-vacuum environment, by means of electrostatic force, resulting in collisions in which, occasionally, two nuclei are made to fuse. In the case of D-D (deuterium) fusion, the process produces a 2.45MeV neutron "signature" which can be measured in order to verify that fusion reactions are indeed taking place. The "fusor", as it is often called, despite having little potential for power-generation applications, is useful as a neutron source in research and industry, offering a greater degree of safety over spontaneous fission or alpha reaction sources and the added benefit of on-demand, controllable neutron production (not to mention relative freedom from government regulations). As of this writing, approximately 21 individual/team amateur efforts have produced working fusion devices (in addition to numerous large-scale, commerically-funded projects).

The device being constructed, in simplest terms, consists of: a conductive shell, a central wire "grid" in a roughly spherical shape, and some mechanism by which the device can be evacuated to ultra-high vacuum pressures and then backfilled with the fuel gas(es) at a low pressure. A high negative DC potential is applied to the "grid", which results in ionization of the fuel gas and subsequent acceleration of the resulting (positive) ions towards the central region. Some nuclei strike the grid or other nuclei, while some pass through and are "re-cycled" until they ultimately are buried in the chamber walls or grid, or, on lucky occasions, collide and fuse.

Fusion Project Status Updates

Glow at ~500μmHg

Chamber midway through assembly

• 2007-04-12: Substantial progress made on the neutron detection system. I also just realized how out-of-date this page is. Hopefully I'll have time for a substantial update within the next few weeks.
• 2007-02-12: The chamber is more-or-less finished. Now on to the power supply and deuterium injection systems...

Completed feedthrough (Jan. 28)

• 2007-01-28: The high-voltage feedthrough for the chamber is complete (see photo). The other chamber components have been cleaned and are currently being baked out.
• 2007-01-27: Thanks to Tom Ligon for sending a couple of copper gaskets for the 8" ConFlat chamber flanges!
• 2006-11-26: First operational test of the turbomolecular pump.

Principal systems

See Fusion Project: Principal systems.

Project direction and funding

Because my original intent in launching this project was for it to be both a challenging and intensive learning experience and a test of my skills and aptitude, I have made it a policy not to accept direct technical or financial assistance (although I am open to the donation of specific items of interest). The majority of funds for the project have come from the sale of a collectible computer which I purchased at an estate sale, restored, and subsequently sold. Additional funds come from occasional "odd jobs" including website design, yard maintenance, etc.

Total cost to-date is estimated at around $1500. A detailed cost breakdown will be available... whenever I have time to write one up.

Misc.

The Pickle Jar Device™

This was a crude apparatus built in June 2006 to demonstrate the inertial electrostatic confinement effect.

As the chamber is pumped down, the initial localized glow discharge seen in the first images gradually gives way to a lovely "blob" formation of plasma. Ions from various residual gases (mostly nitrogen, plus oxygen and other gases from the air, and all kinds of contaminants from the chamber materials) are being accelerated from all directions towards the grid by electrostatic force, resulting in the fuzzy plasma "blob" which seems to float in the middle of the grid. The term "confinement" is somewhat misleading in that nothing is actually trapped in this central region; indeed, a given particle spends very little time in this space before either flying out the other end or being buried in a grid wire.

Contribute

This is a self-directed and self-funded project. I am not interested in monetary donations towards this project; however, if you can spare any of the materials and equipment listed on the "Wanted" List, or would be willing to offer a reasonable trade, please contact me!