Lattice Confinement Fusion-Fast-Fission
Lawrence P Forsley · Pamela A Mosier-Boss · Theresa L Benyo
Public domain · full text
In one page
This is the briefing Lawrence Forsley, Pamela Mosier-Boss and Theresa Benyo gave at U.S. Space Disrupters Day in Washington in December 2024, and it is the shortest statement of what lattice confinement fusion is for. Fusion of hydrogen isotopes into helium, with no tokamak magnets and no laser power supplies: the fuel sits inside a metal lattice, electron screening enhances the reactions, and the lattice is, in their phrase, locally hot but globally cold. Published in Physical Review C in 2020, patented, and commercialised in 2024 in a compact neutron generator for medical radioisotopes. The new step in this brief is the hybrid: the fusion neutrons are used to fission uranium, spent fuel rods or thorium, so no enriched uranium is needed and the fission is cleaner. Forsley reports that has been demonstrated with the US Navy and Global Energy Corporation. The proposed uses run from melting through the 45 km ice shell of an icy moon to running a data centre.
Why it matters hereChapter 12 argues that a lowered Coulomb barrier turns fusion from a confinement problem into a materials problem, and this brief is what that looks like as an engineering programme — a reactor with no magnets, no lasers and no enriched uranium, with a modelling result finished at Los Alamos and scaling under way at NASA Glenn.
What it claims
01Lattice confinement fusion fuses hydrogen isotopes into helium with no tokamak magnets and no laser power supplies: the nuclear fuel is confined and triggered within the lattice, the nuclear reactions are enhanced by electron screening, and the result is locally hot but globally cold.Slide 2, Nuclear Fusion Without Large Magnets or Lasers
Published and peer-reviewed02The method was published in Physical Review C in 2020 (Pines et al. 044609; Steinetz et al. 044610), rests on US Patent 8,419,919, and was patented and commercialised in 2024 by Astral Systems in a compact neutron generator with a 50× increase in neutron flux, 99 percent of it from lattice confinement fusion, producing medical radioisotopes.Abstract; Slide 2 footnotes 1–3
On the bench now03In the lattice confinement fusion fast-fission hybrid reaction, the fusion neutrons fission uranium, spent fuel rods or thorium — no enriched uranium, and cleaner fission — which Forsley reports has been demonstrated with the US Navy and Global Energy Corporation.Slide 2, LCF Fast-Fission Hybrid Reaction
On the bench now04The proposed applications carry parameters: deep-space power able to melt through 45 km ice shells of icy worlds, nuclear electric propulsion, 10–100 kWe of lunar and Mars surface power with fuel rods fabricated in situ, LEO power using no LEU, HALEU or HEU with untended operation for 5+ years, DoD operational energy under 1 MWe, and small modular reactors above 1 MWe for data centres.Slide 3, Application
Designed, not yet built05Going forward: the NIAC-supported Los Alamos MCNP modelling is finished, and NSF-supported scaling is ongoing at NASA Glenn Research Center.Slide 3, Going Forward
What to watch
Read it
U.S. Space Disrupters Day — December 18, 2024 — Washington, D.C.
Lawrence P. Forsley — CTO, Global Energy Corporation, Annandale, VA and San Diego, CA; PI, Lattice Confinement Fusion Fast-Fission Project, NASA GRC, Cleveland, OH; Co-PI, Naval Surface Warfare Centers; Research Fellow, UT Austin, Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory; Extended Electrodynamics (EED) Working Group.
Dr. Pamela A. Mosier-Boss — Chief Scientist, Global Energy Corporation, San Diego, CA.
Dr. Theresa L. Benyo — PI, Lattice Confinement Fusion Project, NASA GRC, Cleveland, OH.
Nuclear Fusion Without Large Magnets or Lasers
- Lattice Confinement Fusion (LCF)¹
- Fusion of hydrogen isotopes into helium
- No tokamak magnets or laser power supplies
- Nuclear fuel is confined and triggered within lattice
- Nuclear reactions enhanced by electron screening
- Extended Electrodynamics role
- NASA published results in Physical Review C ² ³
- Locally hot but globally cold
- Commercialized in 2024 to produce medical radioisotopes
- Lattice Confinement Fusion Fast-Fission Hybrid Reaction
- Fusion neutrons fission uranium, spent fuel rods or thorium
- No enriched uranium, cleaner fission!
- Demonstrated with US Navy and GEC
- Application
- LEO and Deep Space
- Terrestrial
Figure: green, the electron screened lattice; red, the deuterium nuclear fuel.
- US Patent 8,419,919, “System and Method to Generate Particles”
- V. Pines, et al, “Nuclear Fusion Reactions in Deuterated Metals”, Phys Rev C, 101, (20 Apr 2020) 044609.
- B. M. Steinetz, et al, “Novel Nuclear Reactions Observed in Bremsstrahlung-Irradiated Deuterated Metals”, Phys Rev C, 101, (20 Apr 2020) 044610.
Application
- Deep space Power
- Melt through 45 km of Ice shells of Icy worlds
- Nuclear Electric Propulsion
- Planetary Surface Power
- 10 – 100 kWe Lunar and Mars Power
- Fabricate fuel rods in situ, “living off the land”
- LEO Power
- No LEU, HALEU or HEU
- Untended operation 5+ years
- Terrestrial
- DoD Operational Energy < 1 MWe
- Small Modular Reactors: Data Centers > 1 MWe
- Going Forward
- NIAC supported LANL MCNP modeling finished
- NSF Supported scaling on-going at NASA GRC
If It’s safe enough to launch from Florida, its safe enough to use in Florida!
Figure: Nuclear Electric Power and Propulsion (NEP) heat dissipation panels, 33.7 m, as compared to Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) solar panels, 68.6 m. Mass, volume, lifetime matter! After L. Mason, “High Power NEP Power Concepts”, NASA GRC (2017), where the 300 kW NEP was for JIMO/Project Prometheus.
The way in
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20240015941
How to cite it
Lawrence P Forsley, Pamela A Mosier-Boss, Theresa L Benyo (2024) Lattice Confinement Fusion-Fast-Fission. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20240015941
Where it sits in the curriculum