Episode 20 | Futuristic Fusion | Fusion Power Associates
When I ask guests what they think about Fusion in my "Lightning Round" segment, answers usually range from, "Never going to happen" to "We'll all be dead."
For Episode 20, it was finally time to get some answers. Steve Dean, president of Fusion Power Associates, has been involved in nuclear fusion for over 50 years. He holds degrees from Boston College and MIT. In the 70’s he led a group that provided the basis for the Magnetic Fusion Act of 1980, signed into law by Jimmy Carter. Fusion Power Associates was formed in 1979.
So what is fusion exactly? Well, we see them every time we look up at the sky. The sun and the stars are fusion reactors. Fusion power is the attempt to create a small star on earth. There are several designs out there, but the core principle is fusing two hydrogen atoms into Helium. You’ll remember in high school chemistry that Hydrogen with two neutrons is called Deuterium and three neutrons is Tritium. When they fuse it produces a helium atom, a neutron, and lots of heat.
Procuring the fuel is the easy part. Deuterium, for instance, occurs naturally in water. It just needs to be separated out and converted into hydrogen. The challenge is how to confine this reaction so that fusion can occur. In the vacuum of space, the sun and stars do this by gravity. Here on earth, it requires complex magnetic fields and chambers to contain the reaction. And this is where the dollars and the birthdays begin to add up.
I sat down with Steve at his offices outside of Washington, DC. We discussed some of the leading companies and designs leading the way in fusion, just how much this technology is going to cost, and when we will expect to see it.
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