a crystalline hydride made with deuterium nuclei ( fig1 ), while in a magnetic field strong enough to align the atoms &# 39 ; spins in the same direction ( fig2 ), hold the atoms in the desired position for them to preferentially fuse and form a helium atom ( fig3 ). the rate of fusion depends upon quantum tunneling of the deuterons through the non - singular potentials of the nearby protons and the electron of the other deuterium nuclei . the rate of quantum tunneling , and therefore , the rate of fusion is controlled by the alignment of the deuterium nuclei and by either changing the separation of the two deuterons , their relative velocity , or both . the specific separation of the nuclei is set by the crystalline lattice spacing but their relative vibration velocity is determined by the temperature of the crystalline lattice . therefore , while the magnetic field provides the alignment and the primary means of controlling the fusion rate , the temperature provides an additional means of controlling the rate of reaction and the rate of energy production . the operating temperature of a particular deuterium reactor will be established by type of heat removal , the spacing of the metallic lattice , and the desired energy production . the design of the reactor must include a means of carrying the energy away from the heat generation site , magnetic field control , and for temperature control . a low temperature method of carrying heat away is provided using thermal diodes which operate at temperatures less than 300 to 400 degrees centigrade ( fig4 ). temperature control and a method of carrying away waste heat may be through the use of water flowing through channels in , or surrounding , the metallic hydride ( fig5 and 6 ). the heat energy may be taken from the cooling water as in fission reactors where the operating temperature may be higher than thermal diode operating temperature . alternatively , the heat generated may be carried away from the reacting crystalline material directly without the use of the temperature limiting thermoelectric diodes . this may be done with a pressurized fluid so the temperature limit may be different from the 300 to 400 degree centigrade thermoelectric diode limitation . once the heat is removed from the crystalline lattice containing the reacting deuterium nuclei it may used in any method needed . one such method may be the use of a secondary fluid to form steam . or the heat carrying fluid may be used in a heat exchanger to heat another fluid such as asphalt . a simple , desktop reactor design would include a sample of material placed upon a thermoelectric generating diode ( teg ) and then placed in a magnetic field created by permanent magnets . a crude depiction of the reactor may be seen in fig4 . the sample material should be sealed in a non - magnetic container that is flat , either round or square . it may be preferable , but not required , that the sample material be sealed in an inert gas such as argon if the fuel material is sensitive to moisture . the thermoelectric generating diode ( teg ) may be one such as supplied by custom thermoelectric of bishopville , md . ( seehttp :// customthermoelectric . com / tecs / pdf / 12711 - 5l31 - 03ck_spec_sht . pdf ) which produces 227 mv /° c . the voltmeter should have about 200 mv full scale so as to read roughly 1 . 8 ° f . at full scale . the holder should be designed to allow the low temperature side of the teg to rest upon the lower magnet so the magnet may be used as a heat sink to maintain the temperature of the low side at a constant value . the magnet stack may be made of 1 ″ diameter , 1 ″ high ndfeb , grade n52 magnets such as supplied by k & amp ; j magnetics , inc . by using three magnets on the tall stack and one each above and below the sample the magnetic field should be of the order of 56 kilo gauss . let the sample rest outside the magnetic field for a period of time to see that the voltmeter reads zero as the two sides of the teg are at the same temperature . place the sample and teg into the magnetic field and observe the voltmeter for any voltage readings . one might expect between 0 . 5 ° f . to 1 . 0 ° f . in 10 - 20 minutes . this should show up as a reading of 60 - 130 mv on the voltmeter . the assumptions that form the basis of this design outline are : 1 . the experimental data obtained by the navy on powdered fuel are taken as the starting point and converted into solid fuel heating rates , 2 . the fusion energy is released as heat without any accompanying radiation just as the navy experiments showed , 3 . reactor heat is converted into electrical energy by thermal diodes , 4 . a cooling system provides a means of establishing an operating base and carrying away waste heat , 5 . a bank of batteries allows for responding to rapid power demand changes while allowing a steady reactor output with slower power output changes , 6 . one or more inverters will be used to convert dc energy into ac power , 7 . digital control circuitry will be used to control the magnetic field which is obtained using electrical circuits embedded into the reactor . the power measured in the navy &# 39 ; s powder experiments was 1 . 77 milli - watts per gram . the reduction of reaction rates from a solid fuel to the random alignment obtained in powdered fuel is the statistical reduction of 7 . 72 × 10 − 6 . this means the solid fuel power may be approximately 230 watts per gram of solid fuel . to provide a 10 kw power supply at 230 watts per gram would require 43 . 5 grams of fuel . if a conversion efficiency of 20 - 25 % is assumed applicable , then some 200 grams of solid fuel would be required . given a thermal diode with the specifications : imax ( amps ) 3 . 0 , qmax ( watts ) 28 . 3 , vmax ( volts ) 15 . 2 , dtmax (° c .) 67 ° c ., 2 . 5 cm square , and 0 . 5 cm thick . this means that we should be able to get 25 watts from each diode with a volume of 3 . 125 cm 3 . then 10 kw would require 400 diodes , or 2 , 500 square cm of diode surface . by putting a diode on each side of the fuel this would require a 1 , 250 square cm fuel slab . for fuel density of 0 . 8 grams / cc 200 grams of fuel would require 250 cc of fuel . this volume would provide the required surface area if it were in a slab only 0 . 2 cm thick . this is a volume of fuel that is 35 cm × 36 cm × 0 . 2 cm or 14 inches × 14 inches × 0 . 08 inches thick . by putting diodes on each side of the fuel we now have a reactor pack 14 inches × 14 inches × 0 . 48 inches thick . alternatively , multiple layers of diodes may be placed on both sides of the fuel to increase the thermal efficiency of the reactor by using the waste heat of the inner diodes in the outer diodes . in order to establish an operating temperature for the thermal diodes we need of include a cooling system that maintains the temperature of the outside of the thermal diodes at a thermostatically controlled temperature . the cooling system would consist of a cooling jacket around the reactor pack , a liquid pump , a thermostat , and a radiator with a fan to maintain air flow as needed . on the outside of the diodes we place a liquid cooling jacket that is 0 . 5 inches thick with channels for liquid flow . the reactor pack is now 15 inches × 15 inches × 1 . 48 inches thick . to provide a source of power for the magnetic control field and to allow for surges in power demand without requiring rapid reactor output changes , we connect the thermal diodes to a battery bank of perhaps 4 large deep cycle 12 volt batteries . the 12 volt dc energy can then be converted into ac power by using one or more standard inverters . the magnetic control field will consist of wires embedded into the reactor pack to form coils so that the magnetic field through the reactor fuel may be controlled in order to align the field to start the reactor and alter the field to control reactor output level or to shut the reactor down . the magnetic field control will be a digital computer that monitors power demand and reactor conditions and supplies the correct current to the various coils to obtain proper reactor response . the physical sizes of the various parts of the reactor may be expected to be : 1 . reactor pack 15 × 15 × 1 . 5 inches , 337 cubic inches , weight 35 lbs , 2 . coolant pump 4 × 4 × 10 inches , 160 cubic inches , weight 5 lbs 3 . radiator 24 × 24 × 3 inches , 1 , 728 cubic inches , weight 10 lbs 4 . battery bank 24 × 24 × 10 inches , 5 , 760 cubic inches , weight 200 lbs 5 . inverters 23 × 12 × 9 inches , 2 , 484 cubic inches , weight 45 lbs 6 . magnetic control module 12 × 12 × 9 inches , 1 , 296 cubic inches , weight 5 lbs . these estimates total to an overall size of 99 . 4 ft 3 and 300 lbs . this size is approximately 4 ft × 5 ft × 5 ft , or slightly larger than a home air conditioner compressor . the efficiency of the flat design used above is limited to the efficiency of a single teg . multiple tegs may increase the efficiency by using the waste heat from one teg in more tegs before the cooling plates . this type of design also reduces the volume and weight of the various reactor designs . the multiple teg design used in a double stack configuration is shown in fig5 . the multiple teg , double stack configuration may be further incorporated into an integrated design using almost any desired number of double stacks as shown in fig6 . an intermediate scale reactor ( 0 . 5 to 5 mw ) may be made using this fusion reaction that could power trucks , trains and other mobile users of power . locomotives have fairly large volumes available for developing the power they need . they also have a well - developed generator , motor final drive system and waste heat removal system . typically locomotives need high power output levels without the demand for rapid power level changes that is placed on a truck engine . these factors argue that direct steam generation may offer an economic method of carrying the energy away from the reactor for locomotive applications . the typical manner in which trucks are used places many demands for rapid power level changes upon the engine . rapid power level changes are not supported easily by steam systems . over the road trucks might be able to use steam systems to carry the energy from the reactor , but delivery trucks would probably not be a candidate for steam and would rather seem to be best served by the thermoelectric generator system . a large scale reactor such as one for use on a ship or at a major power plant ( approximately 10 mw and higher ) will likely work best by carrying the energy away through conversion of the heat generated by boiling water or by a pressurized water system . this means that a large scale reactor may be designed in such a way that the fusion reactor simply replaces the fission reactor in current power plant designs . thus there is no major difference between a large scale fusion power plant and current fission power plants in how the heat is carried away . the real difference lies in the generation of the heat . this difference is a large difference . the fuel material for the fusion reactor is a crystalline deuteride that involves no radiation . the reaction , being the preferential fusion of two deuterium nuclei to form a helium nucleus , emits no radiation . the waste product , helium , is non - toxic and emits no radiation . therefore , no special handling of either the fuel or the waste is necessary , though collecting the helium produced may have advantages . this offers a serious reduction of hazards in the use of a fusion large scale reactor . the reduction of special handling and required shielding offers great reductions cost and size of the large scale fusion reactors . the development and use of the above series of fusion reactors would significantly impact several sectors of our lives and the earth &# 39 ; s ecology . this impact should be considered before and during any development of these reactors . the potential development of all sizes of the above discussed fusion reactors would make a significant reduction in the demand and use of fossil fuels . for example as fusion takes over the responsibility of providing electric power the use of coal would drop considerably . the use of coal for home heating would also be unnecessary when home fusion reactors begin supplying energy for the individual home . fusion automobile power plants coupled with fusion power plants driving trucks , trains and ships would markedly reduce the use of gas and oil . even the use of natural gas and oil for home heating would not be needed for the home with its own nuclear reactor . the reduction and virtual elimination of the use of fossil fuels would have a tremendous impact upon the earth &# 39 ; s environment . the pollution currently produced would be almost totally eliminated . the production of green house gases almost stopped . the economic impact of the above series of fusion reactors would be even more striking than the impact upon the reduction of pollution . perhaps the production , distribution and use of energy involve more political power , money and individual wealth than any other industry or chain of industries . this power and wealth alone may cause the potential of the above series of fusion reactors to become ‘ dead on arrival .’ the global impact of the transfer of wealth due to oil production and sales is constantly in the news . countries and individuals owe their wealth and well - being to the money that their oil production brings . individual and country wealth has followed energy production since the beginning of the industrial revolution set in motion by the control of energy . those countries and individuals whose wealth is based solely upon the production and sale of oil would see their source of wealth dissipate with the development of the fusion reactors . this short paper cannot , nor intends to try to , do justice to a discussion of the economic impact that the above fusion reactors would have on energy production . coal production by the five top coal producing countries exceeds some 5 , 000 mt per year . this represents a significant portion of the world &# 39 ; s energy production following behind that of the oil industry . this industry would also see a reduction in the demand for its product with the development of fusion reactors . energy distribution is big business . every home owner or business owner or operator has a utility bill that covers the energy used . many , if not all , of these distribution companies also produce the electric and gas forms of energy that they distribute . some may have nuclear and water - driven power plants to generate some of the electric energy they distribute while almost all have oil or coal fired power generation plants . large scale fusion reactors would eliminate the need for these oil and coal fired power plants . industries having large plants that use a lot of energy may install their own large scale reactor and not need to draw their power from a distribution grid . indeed with homes and industries installing individual reactors the existing large power distribution grids may become a relic of the past . while this might wreck havoc with the distribution companies &# 39 ; income , it would eliminate concern over a power grid failure from either a breakdown or terrorist act . at first blush it may appear that the utility companies may lose their income should the fusion reactors replace the oil and coal powered plants . however , this may not be mandated by such development . the fusion reactors must be manufactured and maintained . this could be the role of the utility companies . they could manufacture or obtain the reactors and then deliver them to each home through sales or leases and provide for the minimal maintenance they require .