List of fusor examples explained

The following is a list of fusor examples, examples of the fusor-type nuclear fusion reactor that uses inertial electrostatic confinement

Professional

Fusors have been theoretically studied at multiple institutions, including: Kyoto University,^[1] and Kyushu University.^[2] Researchers meet annually at the US-Japan Workshop on Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion. The following is a list of machines that were actually built.

• Tokyo Institute of Technology has four IEC devices of different shapes: a spherical machine, a cylindrical device, a co-axial double cylinder and a magnetically assisted device.^[3]
• University of Wisconsin-Madison A group at Wisconsin-Madison has been running a very large, funded, fusor program since 1991.^[4]
• Turkish Atomic Energy Authority In 2013 this team built a 30 cm fusor at the Saraykoy Nuclear Research and Training center in Turkey. This fusor can reach 85 kV and do deuterium fusion, producing neutrons per second.^[5]
• University of Illinois Dr. George Miley's team at the fusion studies laboratory has built a ~25 cm fusor which has produced neutrons using deuterium gas.^[6]
• University of Sydney Dr. Joseph Khachan's group in the Department of Physics has built a variety of IEC devices in both positive and negative polarities and spherical and cylindrical geometries.^[7]
• Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Researchers at Shahid Beheshti University in Iran have built a 60 cm diameter fusor which can produce neutrons per second at 140 kV using deuterium gas.^[8]
• Los Alamos National Laboratory In the late nineties, researchers purposed^[9] and built a fusor-like system for oscillating plasma, inside a fusor. This device is known as the Periodically Oscillating Plasma Sphere or POPS.^[10]
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology For his doctoral thesis in 2007, Carl Dietrich built a fusor and studied its potential use in spacecraft propulsion.^[11] In addition, Tom McGuire did his thesis^{[12] [13]} on fusors with multiple cages and ion guns.
• ITT Corporation Hirschs original machine was a 17.8 cm diameter machine with 150 kV voltage drop across it. This machine used ion beams.
• Phoenix Nuclear Labs has developed a commercial neutron source based on a fusor, achieving neutrons per second with the deuterium-deuterium fusion reaction.

Amateur

A number of amateurs have built working fusors and detected neutrons. Many fusor enthusiasts connect on forums^[14] and message boards online. Below are some examples of working fusors.

• Richard Hull Since the late nineties, Richard Hull has built several fusors in his home in Richmond, Virginia.^[15] In March 1999, he achieved a neutron rate of neutrons per second.^[16] Hull maintains a list of amateurs who have detected neutrons from fusors.
• Carl Greninger Founded the Northwest Nuclear Consortium,^[17] an organization in Washington state which teaches a class of a dozen high school students nuclear engineering principles using a 60 kV fusor.^[18]
• Taylor Wilson built a Fusor at 14 years old in 2008.^{[19] [20]}
• Matthew Honickman Was a high school student who built a working fusor in his basement in Rochester, New York.^[21]
• Michael Li In 2003, Michael Li became the youngest person to date to build a fusor, winning second place^[22] in the US Intel Science Talent Search winning a $75,000 college scholarship.^[16]
• Mark Suppes A web designer for Gucci in Brooklyn New York, built a working fusor on a path to building the first amateur Polywell.^{[23] [24]}
• Thiago David Olson Built a 40 kV fusor at age 17, in his home in Rochester, Michigan and placed second in the International Science and Engineering Fair in 2007.^{[25] [26] [27]}
• Jamie Edwards who fused the atom at 13, at his middle school in England.^[28] He received a letter from the Duke of York, was invited on The David Letterman Show and gave a TED talk.^[29]
• Conrad Farnsworth of Newcastle, Wyoming produced fusion in 2011 at 17^{[30] [31]} and used this to win a regional and state science fair.

See also

• Inertial confinement fusion
• Nuclear fusion

Notes and References

1. Beam optics in inertial electrostatic confinement fusion . Review of Scientific Instruments . Ohnishi . Masami . Hoshino . Chikara . Yoshikawa . Kiyoshi . Masuda . Kai . Yamamoto . Yasushi . 71 . 2 . February 2000 . 1210–1212 . 10.1063/1.1150430. 2000RScI...71.1210O .
2. Ion distribution function and radial profile of neutron production rate in spherical inertial electrostatic confinement plasmas . Nuclear Fusion . Matsuura . H. . Takaki . T. . Funakoshi . K. . Nakao . Y. . Kudo . K. . 40 . 12 . 2000 . 1951–1954 . 10.1088/0029-5515/40/12/101. 250801202 .
3. Overview of IEC Research at Tokyo Tech . https://web.archive.org/web/20131221011421/http://www.iae.kyoto-u.ac.jp/beam/iec2013/presentation/1-2.pdf . 21 December 2013 . Hotta . Eiki . 15th annual US-Japan IEC workshop . 7 October 2013 . Kyoto, Japan.
4. 10.1109/FUSION.1999.849787 . Ashley . R.P. . Kulcinski . G.L. . Santarius . J.F. . Murali . S.K. . Piefer . G. . D-/sup 3/He fusion in an inertial electrostatic confinement device . 18th IEEE/NPSS Symposium on Fusion Engineering . 1999 . Albuquerque, NM.
5. Preliminary Results of Experimental Studies from Low Pressure Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Device . Bölükdemir . A.S. . Akgün . Y. . Alaçakır . A. . Journal of Fusion Energy . 2013 . 32 . 5 . 561–565 . 10.1007/s10894-013-9607-z. 2013JFuE...32..561B . 120272975 .
6. A portable neutron/tunable X-ray source based on inertial electrostatic confinement . Miley . George H. . Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment . 422 . 1–3 . 1999 . 16–20 . 10.1016/S0168-9002(98)01108-5. 1999NIMPA.422...16M .
7. Web site: Overview of IEC at the University of Sydney . https://web.archive.org/web/20140718053343/http://www.plasma.ee.kansai-u.ac.jp/iec2010/pdf/pdf_slides_posters/Khachan.pdf . 2014-07-18 .
8. Experimental Study of the Iranian Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion Device as a Continuous Neutron Generator . Damideh . V. . Journal of Fusion Energy . 11 June 2011 . 31 . 2 . 109–111 . 10.1007/s10894-011-9438-8. 254651166 .
9. "Stable, thermal equilibrium, large-amplitude, spherical plasma oscillations in electrostatic confinement devices", DC Barnes and Rick Nebel, PHYSICS OF PLASMAS VOLUME 5, NUMBER 7 JULY 1998
10. Equilibrium and low-frequency stability of a uniform density, collisionless, spherical Vlasov system . Barnes . D.C. . Chacón . L. . Finn . J.M. . Physics of Plasmas . 9 . 11 . November 2002 . 4448–4464 . 10.1063/1.1510667. 2002PhPl....9.4448B .
11. Dietrich . Carl . Improving particle confinement in inertial electrostatic fusion for spacecraft power and propulsion . 2007 . Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics . 1721.1/39702 . Ph.D..
12. Improved Lifetimes and Synchronization Behavior in Multi-grid Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion Devices . February 2007 . McGuire . Thomas John . Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics . 1721.1/38527 . Ph.D..
13. Numerical Predictions of Enhanced Ion Confinement in a Multi-grid IEC Device . McGuire . Thomas . Sedwick . Raymond . 44th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit . 21 July 2008 . Hartford, Connecticut . 10.2514/6.2008-4675.
14. Web site: Home . fusor.net.
15. Living with a nuclear reactor . 26 November 2008 . Schechner . Sam . YouTube.
16. Web site: Neutron Club . Hull . Richard . 31 January 2024 . 9 June 2010.
17. Web site: Home . Northwest Nuclear Consortium . https://web.archive.org/web/20160413080635/http://lobby.nwnc.us.com/SitePages/Home.aspx . 13 April 2016 . 1 February 2024 . live .
18. Overview of the North West Nuclear Consortium in 2012 . . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140523215550/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbeAcFy3ErM . 23 May 2014.
19. News: Dutton . Judy . Teen nuclear scientist fights terror . CNN . 1 September 2011 .
20. Wilson . Taylor . Yup, I built a nuclear fusion reactor . March 2012 . TED.
21. News: Building Electronics is teen's favorite leisure activity . Verghese . Ashwin . 6 January 2010 . Democrat and Chronicle.
22. Intel STS, Web site: Alumni to watch: Michael Li & The Data Incubator . 2014-11-08 .
23. I still don't know everything I should . Suppes . Mark . 11 December 2012 . Wired UK . YouTube.
24. Local Fusion Reactor . . https://web.archive.org/web/20140627082309/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etlb43suCoc . 27 June 2014 . live.
25. Web site: Teen builds basement nuclear reactor . Popular Science . Mone . Gregory . 20 March 2007.
26. Web site: Radioactive Boy Scout . Discover Magazine . Ornes . Steven . 7 March 2007 .
27. "Neutron Activation Analysis Using an Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion Reactor," Thiago David Olson of Stoney Creek High School, Rochester Hills, Michigan AVS Newsletter, Fall 2007, page 3, 2007 Intel 58th International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)
28. Web site: Do 13 year olds actually build fusion reactors? . Arnoux . Robert . 26 March 2014 . iter.org.
29. live. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211208/tQV44wVQ7OQ. 2021-12-08. Achieving nuclear fusion at the age of 13 Jamie Edwards TEDxSalford . YouTube.
30. Web site: Teen makes nuclear reactor in dad's shed. 3 February 2013 . Casper Star Tribune.
31. Web site: Conrad Farnsworth, Wyoming Teen, Builds Nuclear Fusion Reactor In Garage (VIDEO). HuffPost. 4 February 2013.