Simon with some insight into how WB-7 has gone. From the looks of things - rather well.
...options for a modified wiffleball 8 (WB8.1) and modified ion gun could provide the Navy with data for potential applications that may lead to a shipborne fusion power reactor. Which would be kinda handy to have to power two or four of those electric motors turning the screws of an aircraft carrier (or a U.S. town)
WB -8 Demonstrations that could:
- ...be operated at a magnetic field strength of approximately 0.8 Tesla, which represents an increase of 8 times the magnetic field strength of previous WB machines. Improvements over previous WB machines in WB confinement, ion energy and fusion reactivity are expected as a result of these changes to WB machine design.
- ...address the plasma dynamics of WB devices, and shall address the scaling laws that apply to polywell fusion.
- ...provide a predictive model of WB behavior including data points for detailed 2D/3D profile measurements of plasma density, ion energy and WB magnetic field structure during follow-on tests to validate the scientific basis for a Polywell fusion power reactor, and guide further research.
So the program is starting to take on a life of its own. A WB-9 device is already under consideration even before experiments on WB-8 are even completed. This indicates a fair amount of confidence in the forthcoming results. Excellent.
Apples to apples comparisons...
An increase of field strength by a factor of 8 means - if the scaling laws hold a factor of about 4,000 increase in power out.
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