Feasibility of Fisher’s FISCATRON pulsed-wire microexplosion concept

Determine whether the FISCATRON concept proposed by A. J. Fisher—namely, the use of intense pulsed electrical currents to explode a conducting wire surrounded by fusion fuel—to burn solid tritiated lithium-6 deuteride (6LiD_{1−x}T_x) or lithium-6 deuterotritide can be made to work in practice.

Background

The paper revisits historical fusion cycles involving lithium-6, specifically the Jetter (n + 6Li) and Post (p + 6Li) cycles, and proposes non-plasma, solid-state implementations using modern cross-section data and reaction-network modeling.

In discussing prior concepts related to solid fuel fusion devices, the authors describe Fisher’s patented FISCATRON idea, which relies on electrical discharge initiated microexplosions produced by exploding a conducting wire embedded in fusion fuel such as tritiated 6LiD or lithium-6 deuterotritide. The authors explicitly state that it is not presently clear whether this approach can be made to work, identifying a concrete unresolved question about its practical viability.

References

The patent proposes to use intense pulsated currents to explode a conducting wire surrounded by fusion fuel materials, although it is not presently clear if this approach can be made to work.

— Jetter and Post nuclear fusion cycles: new fire to an old idea  (2410.09065 - Fortunato et al., 2024) in Section 1, Fusion cycles and some history