I watched a CNN report this morning about Mark Suppes who lives in Brooklyn and built a homemade Nuclear Reactor in a warehouse. See:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10385853.stm
The problem is that listening to the report you got the impression that Mark is another Steve Jobs, and that with just a bit more money and time he can solve our energy problems. While Jobs was able to create a computer in his garage, there is no way that Mark will ever be able to create more power than he puts into the system.
The first thing you need to realize is that this was a FUSION reaction which is relatively safe and not the dangerous radioactive FISSION reactors that produce 20% of the power in the nation.
Fusion reactions, at their very simplest, takes two hydrogen atoms and smashes them together to form a helium atom and the reaction gives off a lot of heat. A sustained reaction is difficult because you have to keep shooting these elements at each other.
Fission reactions take a very heavy atom and brake it down to two lighter elements. This is easier because when the initial atom breaks down the resulting smaller atoms shoot out and can break down other heavy atoms, forming a chain reaction. It is dangerous because the heavy radioactive atoms shooting out will kill you.
You can legally buy some Deuterium (A heavier isotope of hydrogen), build a vacuum chamber, and hurl the deuterium atoms together at very high temperatures, and once in a while you will get a helium atom out of the process. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fus...It takes an enormous amount of energy to do this but it is fairly easy. The problem is to generate a continuous fusion reaction, harness the energy coming off that reaction and generate more power than you are getting out, is nearly impossible.
See:http://brian-mcdermott.com/fusion_is_easy.htm
A hydrogen bomb can create a fusion reaction and release all of that energy as a destructive force, but it takes a thermonuclear fission reaction to start the reaction.
The problem is that the reaction is hot (millions of degrees), so you need to contain the reaction in an electromagnetic bottle or torus. This takes enormous energy. It is relatively safe because if the super hot plasma escapes, the reaction will stop (although anything in the way will be vaporized).
Cold Fusion which takes place at room temperature has been the holy grail of energy for generations, yet no one knows how to do it yet. It is attractive because the elements of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium, can be derived from sea water and they are not as dangerous or radioactive as the heavier elements we use for fission power.
Scientists have been working to generate a sustained reaction for years but so far they have only gotten it to work for seconds. This year the world's most powerful laser may do better. See:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/scien...It takes an enormous amount of energy to do this but it is fairly easy. The problem is to generate a continuous fusion reaction, harness the energy coming off that reaction and generate more power than you are getting out, is nearly impossible.
See:http://brian-mcdermott.com/fusion_is_easy.htm
A hydrogen bomb can create a fusion reaction and release all of that energy as a destructive force, but it takes a thermonuclear fission reaction to start the reaction.
The problem is that the reaction is hot (millions of degrees), so you need to contain the reaction in an electromagnetic bottle or torus. This takes enormous energy. It is relatively safe because if the super hot plasma escapes, the reaction will stop (although anything in the way will be vaporized).
The point is it takes enormous resources and the best minds in the world, trying for 70 years, haven't been able to get more power out than they put in yet. I don't think some guy in his garage will be producing power anytime soon.