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Should Google Go Nuclear? Clean, cheap, nuclear power...

Google TechTalks · 74.5K views · 2007-10-09 · 1:32:44

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Overview

A 2006 Google Tech Talk by Robert Bussard on inertial electrostatic confinement (polywell) fusion as a cheap, clean alternative to conventional thermonuclear reactors. He argues it could be made viable with modest funding.

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Cited as Bussard's last substantial public presentation on polywell fusion and the source of his claim that about $200M would be enough.

Recommended by 1 HN people across 1 months · HN mentions 2011–2022

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ThaddeusQuay2 · 2012-09 · Strong recommendation

Bussard was a genius who couldn't get funding. Less than a year before he died of cancer, he asked Google for a paltry sum to continue his research, shortly after the government cut him off. I have wondered why Google didn't jump on this. Do you know? And now, ironically, the Navy, the very entity which tossed him out, has not only picked up his research, but has apparently gone all quiet about the results. Here's the video of his excellent (and, in retrospect, sad) presentation at Google. I say "sad" because it shows an intellectual giant, nearly on his deathbed, practically begging an Internet giant, for what was really the tiny amount he needed to continue with what had become his life's work. Anyway, it's an intense, fast-paced, insightful, and (likely) final public look into his mind, his work, and his character. [VIDEO] (Should Google Go Nuclear?) [LINK] (archive copy) UPDATE: I found a good paper covering the above talk. It's a 25-page PDF, of less than 2MB, with color photos and charts from the video. [LINK]

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carapace · 2022-07 · Reference

Have you heard of the Polywell design for fusion reactors? If so, what do you think? [LINK] Dr. Robert Bussard (RIP): [VIDEO] He claimed that it would only take about $200M of engineering development to become viable.

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carapace · 2021-10 · Reference

It's a bit cheeky but I like to point out that the Sun is nuclear power . It's a maintenance-free fusion reactor so powerful that it can blind you from 150 million km away. - - - - Anyway, Robert Bussard believed that he was on to something with his polywell fusion plant: [VIDEO] He claimed that it would only take about $200M of engineering development to become viable. [LINK]

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