Catalysed fusion

In 1987 Scientific American ran an article on ways to get fusion reactions to run at much more manageable temperatures

I liked your article on hydrogen fusion energy (“Can lasers solve the energy crisis?”, PE October).

In 1987 Scientific American ran an article on research being done in the then Soviet Union on ways to get fusion reactions to run at much more manageable temperatures by catalysing them with mu mesons. Unfortunately, research came to a halt in the subsequent political turmoil in that country.

Futurist magazine has run a brief article on catalysed fusion since then, but there has been remarkably little discussion of a potentially very important line of research.

Getting fusion reactions to run in the range 1,000-1,500C would be very thermally efficient, allow direct co-production of hydrogen from water, while also being containable by conventional materials.

I'm surprised there has not been more interest in this line of approach.

Hugo Rusbridge, Wellington, New Zealand 

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