Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-08-19
ny WILLIAM HINES
star scisncs writer

Two million dollars and an
other years research may
provide . breakthrough In theI
guest for Q way TO harness the
hydrogen bombs energy for
peaceful purposes.
This possibility was held out
yesterday by Navy scientists
who met with reporters to|
DISCUSS /. reported advances inl
fusion power research ct the
Naval Research Laboratory. AM
NRb physicist. Or. Alan Kolb,
had outlined the laboratory's|
WORK at the scientific meeting
in Vpsala, Sweden.
Though DR.. Kolb's research
was hailed as o possible break
through In the search for
H-homb power generation. his
colleagues refused to charac-
terise it as such ct this time.
Reaction Is Goal q
when i. is estaDlishsd be-
yona doubt that we have pro-
duced q thermometer reaction,
that viii be the breakthrough, :"
Or. Robert M. Page. director
of research for NRL. said. He
added that "the next expert
ment" would give the scientists
this opportunity.
u. Page consulted other NRL
scientists before saying the
"next experiment" was about q
year OF and would cost 50 mil
lion. It will involve research
similar to that which has been
going on at NRL for three years
at atotal cost Of about SIS mil
lion but on q larger scale.
The NRL experiments to date
appear to have borne the first
fruits In attempts to produce
power from hydrogen the flu
sion reactions.
$ Million Degrees Heat :
Using tremendous electric
and magnetic forces, DR.. Kolb.
DR.. william r. Faust and others
at NRL have heated rarified
heavy hydrogen to an Indicated
SO million degrees Fahrenheit.
For q brief instant at this tenn
perature. the uble-weight n.y.
drosen. called deuterium. APP
pears to have undergone the
same fusion process as that
which causes q hydrogen bomb
to explode and the sun to gen.
crate heat and light.
Because the forces and guam
titiS involved in the expert
merits are so small by COMPARE
son with either an H-bomb or
the sun, the results are apparent
chiefly in readings on delicate
instruments.
d. Page likened the problem
Of sustaining o thermo- nuclear
reaction to that Of lighting q
piece Of paper with o match.
First the paper turns brown,
then it CLOVIS red. and finally it
bursts into flame.
I'm this thermometer re-
action, we think we have now
reached the stage where the
deuterium is beginning to show
q little brown" DR.. Page said.
"But we have farther to go to
get q true thermometer re-
action and farther yet to prove
It."
Practical Power Far on
The NRL scientists estimated
that If the hoped-for break
through materializes, 1t will be
20 to 40 years before a practical
amount Of power will be pro-
duced. This estimate is not out
of line with two statements
earlier this year by DR.. Edward
Teller, so-called father of the
H-bomb." DR.. Teller said at
the Atoms-for-P Peace meeting in
Geneva that he did not expect
thermonuclear power in the
goth Century, but a few weeks
later conceded that it might
possibly come before the CEN
tury ends.
The immediate problem con!
fronting scientists is to raise the
critical temperature from SO
million degrees to about 80 mill
lion. That viii sustain the
hydrogen reaction for appreci-
able periods, according to cur
rent theory.
A longer-range problem. after