Edward Teller Lectures: Lasers and Inertial Fusion Energy Review
It is remarkable that the world's shake-up about the climatic catastrophe in December 2007 coincides with the 100th birthday celebration of Edward Teller. The Bali conference of the IPCC (International Panel about Climatic Change) during the week of the Nobel Prizes to Al Gore and for IPCC to its chairman Rajendra K. Pachauri on 10th of December 2007 is close to Teller's 100th birthday on 15 January 2008. Teller emphasized not long before he died in September 2003 to John Nuckolls "The future is uncertain and scientists and engineers should cooperate globally to shape the future". If nuclear power stations may be an essential component next for solving the climatic catastrophe, there is a crucial contribution by Edward Teller where a very rare documentation is just given in the "Edward Teller Lectures".
For the carbon dioxide pollution in the air one will have to recognize the priorities, e.g. that the 120 years development of the motor car is so perfect and essential not only for individual mobility but for all the whole economy, trade and supply of most needed goods. Petrol is vital to be used before alternatives may be developed and installed on a trillion dollar level in the future. Where to cut CO2 emission had to come from other sections, e.g. from extinguishing the burning of rain forests emitting 6 billion tons CO2 per year. And by gradually reducing fossil energy in the electric power stations, heating houses etc.. Windmills or solar energy generation will help but this is not generally economic. When Robert Dautray received his Edward Teller Medal, Teller mentioned how to fight the oil crisis of 1972 (page 51): "the French have a really unjustifiable advantage over everyone else: they are logical! And this logic tells them that the nuclear way is the way to go..." Indeed it needed many years until 85% of all electricity is produced nuclear now in France. The statement of Teller in 1993 is now so important after the most experienced and successful environmentalist James Lovelock against a furious crowd of media opponents is showing that it is now too late to stop the catastrophe and that a rise the of oceans by 60meters can only be postponed by using nuclear energy.
The French solution with light water fission reactors is now well established by technology and economics for general use, but Al Gore in his book "Earth in the balance" of 1993, p. 328, correctly aks for better advanced designs of nuclear fission reactors. Just for a much better solution absolutely safe and free of any misuse for nuclear weapons, Teller described his rarely documented scheme in the book (p.51) of a completely automatic thorium breeding reactor built 200 meters under ground in rocks. Any development of this kind of alternatives was prevented by the antinuclear media indoctrination and valuable time lost. New steps in energetic future developments should well be expected parallel to other options as e.g. producing solar cells by electron beam technology to avoid the usual "alchemy" criticized by Gore (see amazon.de, H. Hora "Klimakatastrophe Überwinden").
Beyond James Lovelock's appeal to promote nuclear fission reactors, he also looks to fusion energy in the future. The option to solve this problem with lasers is just the topic of the book. It contains the summary of laser driven spark ignition in John Lindl's Edward Teller Lecture or that of George Miley underlining the use of neutron lean fusion fuel as Gerold Kulcinski said in CNN on November 13, 2007: one space shuttle load of helium-three mined at the moon surface can produce all energy of the USA for half a year. The crucial contributions to this field by Michael Key, by Laurence K. Suter, Robert McCrory or Steve Hahn should be mentioned as examples of the addresses of the 21 recipients of the Edward Teller medals awarded by the American Nuclear Society before 2005. A most advanced scheme by Nuckolls and Wood (p.13) may lead to a fusion gain by using the new Petawatt-picosecond lasers for fast ignition similar to the recently discovered block ignition [Physics of Plasmas 14, 172701 (2007); Laser and Particle Beams 25, 37 (2007)]. The fusion energy gains of 10,000 per incident laser energy even at rather low compression of the fusion fuel may lead to energy generation several times less expensive than any present energy source.
This is an exclusive view to solve the global energy problems at least by some specific aspects for next developments where Edward Teller's contributions were of incommensurable value. The "Edward Teller Lectures - Lasers and Inertial Fusion Energy" are a very competent summary mostly by the long years specialists in this field honored with the Edward Teller Medal of their scientific results gained from exploring this most exciting field with so many unexpected new phenomena now going to be used in the biggest lasers in the world (National Ignition Facility NIF in Livermore, or LMJ in France) costing more than 3 Billion dollars each. Like the lectures on this topic by Teller himself, the awardees make understandable their specific scientific results for the experts, as well as for the broader interested reader, and for students, scientists and engineers. This is merging as a brilliant jewel of new physics into the fatefully important demands for solving the future of mankind under the shield of Edward Teller's pioneering work and inspirations.
Edward Teller Lectures: Lasers and Inertial Fusion Energy Overview
How to achieve unlimited, safe, clean and low-cost energy by laser- or beam-driven inertial nuclear fusion has preoccupied all winners of the Edward Teller Medal since its inception in 1991. This book presents their findings, meeting discussions, and personal insights from Edward Teller himself. Expect discussion of important advances anticipated in the future such as multi-billion dollar fusion research projects (NIF), and new schemes such as the petawatt-picosecond laser–plasma interactions evoking new physics and coupling mechanisms.
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