During the summer of 1985, I was a part of an engineering team at Los Alamos National Lab working on the first design of a fusion reactor based on the then very advanced spherical-tokamak (ST) concept. At a group lunch toward the end of the effort, our team leader, Robert Krakowski, reflected philosophically.
“You know,” Krakowski said, “when fusion power is finally developed, it won’t be at a place like Los Alamos or Livermore. It will be done by a couple of crackpots working in a garage.”
We all laughed at this, knowing full well how the formidable difficulties of fusion-power development put such a feat well beyond the capabilities of garage inventors. But in recent years the trend has moved forcefully toward validating Krakowski’s prophecy. Around the world, well-funded entrepreneurial efforts have begun to make fusion power a reality. Indeed, many of them are now outpacing official government programs. At this rate, there is an excellent chance that the first controlled thermonuclear fusion reactors will be ignited before this decade is out — if not by crackpots in a garage, then perhaps by a team of start-up company engineers working in a warehouse.
Read Full Article »