October 2014
Geiger Readings for October 16, 2014
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 92 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 77 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 83 nanosieverts per hour
Iceberg lettuce from Central Market = 130 nanosieverts per hour
Nuclear Fusion 16 - Lockheed Martin Compact Fusion Reactor
I have been blogging about alternate approaches to nuclear fusion power reactors. If the scientists are able to create a working fusion reactor that can generate more energy that it consumes, it could be revolutionary for the power industry. Fusion reactors are generally designed to consume ions like hydrogen, deuterium, tritium and/or boron for fuel. Some produce fast neutrons but some don't.
Geiger Readings for October 15, 2014
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 111 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 76 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 97 nanosieverts per hour
Vine ripened tomato from Central Market = 79 nanosieverts per hour
Nuclear Fusion 15 - Bussard Polywell Design for a Nuclear Fusion Power Reactor
My last couple of posts have been about projects for developing nuclear fusion. Today I am going to discuss the work of Robert Bussard on nuclear fusion. Bussard developed his own innovative fusion reactor design that he called the Polywell. He formed a company called Energy/Matter Conversion Corporation in 1985 to work on the Polywell. He was able to build and test fifteen experimental devices between 1994 and 2006 with funding from the U.S. Navy.
Geiger Readings for October 14, 2014
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 121 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 50 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 50 nanosieverts per hour
Bartlett pear from Central Market = 81 nanosieverts per hour
Nuclear Fusion 14 - Dynomak Nuclear Fusion Reactor Under Development at the University of Washington
My last couple of posts have been about the international ITER project for nuclear fusion. This is a huge project with participation of the European Union and other countries with major nuclear power programs. It is slated to be completed in 2027 and will be tested for years before a prototype of a nuclear fusion power reactor is built based on what is learned from the ITER.
Geiger Readings for October 13, 2014
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 105 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 70 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 56 nanosieverts per hour
Peach from QFC = 116 nanosieverts per hour
Geiger Readings for October 12, 2014
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 106 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 93 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 104 nanosieverts per hour
Yellow bell pepper from Central Market = 99 nanosieverts per hour
Geiger Readings for October 11, 2014
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 110 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 87 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 70 nanosieverts per hour
Carrot from Central Market = 87 nanosieverts per hour
Nuclear Fusion 13 - Technical Details on ITER
In my last post, I talked about the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor ITER project. A consortium of nations including European Union, India, Japan, People's Republic of China, Russia, South Korea and the United States formally agreed in 2006 to collaborate on the construction of an experimental nuclear fusion reactor. Billions of dollars and decades of work are dedicated to the project.
Geiger Readings for October 10, 2014
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 72 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 93 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 75 nanosieverts per hour
Banana from QFC = 81 nanosieverts per hour
Nuclear Fusion 12 - The ITER Nuclear Fusion Project
I have blogged about nuclear fusion projects in the past. There is an old joke that it will take forty year to create a nuclear fusion reactor that produces more power than it consumes. The joke part is that this has been true for fifty years. Generating controlled and sustained thermonuclear fusion has proven to be a very difficult task.