Originally Posted By: Shannow
Farnsworth Fusor anyone ???
Always suspected that the "next step" was decades old.
Go to the bottom for some of the farnsworth patents...
http://www.rexresearch.com/farnsworth/fusor.htm#3258
These things actually make neutrons, so there's something going on that can be replicated by kids at school science fairs.
(yeah, I know, wiki...Google is making finding all my old haunts painful these days).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusor#Commercial_applications
Quote:
Neutron source
The fusor has been demonstrated as a viable neutron source. Typical fusors cannot reach fluxes as high as nuclear reactor or particle accelerator sources, but are sufficient for many uses. Importantly, the neutron generator easily sits on a benchtop, and can be turned off at the flick of a switch. A commercial fusor was developed as a non-core business within DaimlerChrysler Aerospace - Space Infrastructure, Bremen between 1996 and early 2001.[10] After the project was effectively ended, the former project manager established a company which is called NSD-Fusion.[13] To date, the highest neutron flux achieved by a fusor-like device has been 3 × 1011 neutrons per second with the deuterium-deuterium fusion reaction.[11]
Medical isotopes
Commercial startups have used the neutron fluxes generated by fusors to generate Mo-99, an isotope used for medical care.[11][12]
Here's the Lockheed Patent...
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20180047462A1/en?oq=2018%2f0047462
Amongst stating it, they appear to be trying to capture every possible use (planes, trucks, ships, power stations), much like Apple would claim patent to an "on button".