Word: thermonuclear
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...hostile environment. This is not really true. Earth is protected by its blanket of atmosphere, to be sure, but it is a disorderly place, and unpredictable. It is full of storms and winds, of fogs and ice, of earthquakes. It is also full of people -people with thermonuclear bombs...
...question is whether these neutrons really come from the fusion of deuterium into helium 3. Powerful electrical discharges can give "false neutrons." formed in other and less important ways, but Scientist Cockcroft is "90% certain" that at least some of ZETA's neutrons come from a thermonuclear reaction. Dr. Thonemann of Harwell does not want to commit himself definitely. U.S. scientists are not sure either. Dr. James Tuck, head of the Los Alamos group, wants to learn more before he makes positive statements...
...British thermonuclear scientists do not say flatly that they are ahead of their U.S. colleagues, but Dr. Thonemann, master of ZETA, points out that with a small thermonuclear doughnut it is hard to keep the pinch away from the walls for long. "You have to go fairly big," he says, "if you want to put up temperature and put up containment time too." The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission apparently agrees with this reasoning; it is building at Princeton, N.J. a very large thermonuclear device, a "Stellarator," which is scheduled to start operation...
Thorny Problems. Neither the British nor U.S. scientists claim that they have made a breakthrough that will quickly yield controlled thermonuclear power. Much higher temperatures, above 100 million degrees, will be needed before the fusion of deuterium gives off even as much energy as it consumes. All sorts of thorny practical problems will have to be solved before thermonuclear energy flows through practical wires. No one wants to predict definitely how long it will take. "It couldn't possibly be less than ten years," says Sir John Cockcroft. "It might be as long as 50. Twenty plus is about...
...cost of this effort will be high, but the stakes are even higher. Deuterium, the fuel of thermonuclear power plants, can be extracted fairly easily from any kind of water, and there is enough in five gallons of water to yield as much energy as ten tons of coal. All nations with the wit to handle the difficult thermonuclear technology will have access to virtually unlimited energy...