I work at the Cornell Laboratory of Plama Studies. The main thrust of research is pulse power fussion. I am invovled in two projects, the X-Pinch Pulser and the Low Current Experiment.
Pulse power fusion is a concecptually simple method of generating energy. A hydrogen target is surrounded by a cage of thin wires. When a large (terrawatt) electric current is sent through the wires, they expload. As the metalic wires boil and ionize to form a plasma, x-rays are emitted. High energey x-rays strike the hydrogen target rapidly heating and compressing it. With a suitable cage geometry and suffecient energy, this process will cause hydrogen atoms to undergo nuclear fusion. The reaction yeilds energy in the form of hot helium ions and fast neutrons.
At least that's the idea. So far, fusion has proved an elusive goal.
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