There are reports that because of all the publicity surrounding R. W. Bussard‘s work in inertial electrostatic fusion, the US Navy has offered him an additional year’s funding. This is nowhere near enough to build a full-scale net power reactor, but should be enough to produce more convincing proofs of concept.
If Dr. Bussard’s work can be made to produce a net power fusion reactor, we could be on the verge of a significant period in history. Dr. Bussard is no crackpot; he’s been a respected figure in fusion research for over forty years.
The prevailing model of fusion reactor, called a Tokamak, which has not yet been made to produce net power in over forty years of research, has a significant problem, in that the easiest fusions it can use are Deuterium-Deuterium, or Deuterium-Tritium. The problem with these reactions are that they produce excess neutrons, which fly out and collide with the walls of the reactor vessels, causing them to become more and more radioactive over time.
However, Dr. Bussard calculates that his MaGrid Polywell design may easily fuse protons (Hydrogen ions) and Boron-11. This particular reaction does not produce neutrons. On the contrary, it produces extra protons, which, if things are balanced in precisely the right manner, may be induced to draw electrons from the walls of the reactor, turning themselves into hydrogen atoms which then may be pumped out or reintroduced to the reactor. A flow of electrons in the reactor walls is plain old electricity, which may be used directly — without any of the intermediate steps used in present fission reactors as well as tokamaks of heating fluids into steam which drive turbine generators.
This stuff really has the potential to change the world.