LENR Space Propulsion System Proposed

Longtime low energy nuclear reaction (LENR) researcher George H. Miley is proposing a cold fusion power system designed especially for spacecraft. Miley and four other researchers Kyu-Jung Kim, Erik Ziehm, Tapan Patel and Bert Stunkard have published a paper called Progress in Development of an LENR Power Cell for Space.

George H. Miley

In the paper Miley and his colleagues propose the use of ultra-high density deuterium clusters in nanoparticles to create a reaction involving super-hot gas. To my layperson’s eyes this looks like a design for an LENR powered rocket which is fascinating.

It sounds a great deal like Andrea Rossi’s hot e-cat which also uses LENR and super-hot gas. A difference is that Miley seems only interested in developing a power source for spacecraft while Rossi wants to develop his for industrial or residential use. One interesting aspect of Miley’s device is that he’s working with Palladium a precious metal that is currently trading at $604.50 (€530.82) an ounce.

A picture of one of Miley's earlier LENR devices.

If it works the device will apparently be commercialized and marketed by Miley’s company Lenuco LLC. The device is being developed by the Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in conjunction with Lenuco.

One interesting use for Miley’s device would be to power jets or rockets if it works. Airbus, Europe’s largest aviation company and NASA are working on the possibility of LENR powered aircraft. Miley has apparently worked with NASA in the past.

Possible Hot Fusion Breakthrough at MIT

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is not the only American college campus where Fusion research is taking place. Dennis Whyte the director of the Plasma Science and Research Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) thinks that it could be possible to build a practical tokamak hot fusion reactor with off the shelf components within 10 years.

Artist's Rendering of MIT's ARC small scale hot fusion reactor.

Whyte thinks that new commercially available superconductors and rare-earth barium copper oxide superconducting tape now available commercial could create the magnetic coils necessary to contain a hot fusion reaction. A Tokamak reactor uses magnetism to contain a hot fusion reactor.

Whyte did not say how much his reactor would cost but it would create enough energy to power a small city and will be far cheaper than the International Thermonuclear Reactor or ITER now under construction in France. The ITER will take 20 years to build and cost $40 billion. One has to wonder what the ITER scientists will do if Whyte’s reactor works.

It looks as if some sort of fusion reactor either LENR or hot fusion could be commercially available by 2030. If that occurs it’ll be the ultimate disruptive technology that will completely change our economy.

Continue reading here: E-cat Heater and Cooling System is a Steam Powered Heat Pump

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