From:	Adam Getchell acgetchell@*******.edu
Subject:	Cold Fusion (Re: SR History)
Date:	Mon, 15 Mar 1999 14:37:30 -0800

> Let us not forget the first Cold fusion power plant going online in
> 2027, giving all those technological wonders in the 205X's power
> to run... :)

Technological pet peeve ...

Cold fusion, otherwise known as muon-catalyzed fusion, works.
Theoretically. I read the original papers by Pons & Fleichman and the
earlier papers by the Brigham Young experimental group.

The trouble is the muon catalysis part. A muon is a heavier cousin to an
electron (in the Lepton family) and masses about 200 MeV. The excess energy
gained from a deuteron-deuteron fusion is about 20 MeV.

To just break even (ie gain back the energy from making the muon) you need
at least 10 collisions, on the average, per muon. The deuteron-muon capture
cross section is so small that it's difficult to get one event, let alone
dozens. So for practical purposes, muon-catalyzed fusion will never work.

On the other hand, Lawrence Livermore Labs is on schedule to go online with
an Inertial Confinement Fusion plant that will make 60% of the energy put
in, and can be boosted to breakeven or beyond. Fast Z-pinch reactors are
also becoming a possibility.

>-Tamino ...All too easy


--Adam

acgetchell@*******.edu
"Invincibility is in oneself, vulnerability in the opponent." --Sun Tzu