Direct Nuclear Power Conversion

An apparatus comprising:

• a generator configured to produce output electrical power by bringing two species of ions into collisions that induce nuclear fusion reactions and thereby produce more of said output electrical power than electrical power input to the generator, wherein the generator is devoid of a magnetic field that constrains a plasma comprised of said two species of ions brought into said collisions;
• wherein said two species of ions are brought into said collisions as a first ion beam comprised of one of said species of ions and a second ion beam comprised of another of said species of ions, both said first ion beam and said second ion beam consisting essentially of no electrons;
• said generator including:
• a spherical vacuum vessel containing a vacuum and comprising a vacuum vessel central region and a vacuum vessel wall;
• and
• an electrostatic accelerator structured to direct said first ion beam to repeatedly collide with said second ion beam in said vacuum vessel central region to produce said collisions;
• wherein:
• said generator is configured to:
• produce said first ion beam with an average kinetic energy greater than or equal to an average kinetic energy of said second ion beam during said collisions and such that said first ion beam has an average momentum equal to an average momentum of said second ion beam during said collisions, and such that said first ion beam and said second ion beam have a combined kinetic energy sufficient for said nuclear fusion reactions when the two species of ions experience the collisions;
• wherein the generator further includes:
• a first spherical mesh electrode, concentric with said spherical vacuum vessel, connected to a source of said first ion beam,
• a second spherical mesh electrode, concentric with said spherical vacuum vessel, connected via an intermediate power supply to a source of said second ion beam, wherein
• said first spherical mesh electrode is configured to have a higher opacity to ions emanating from said collisions than said second spherical mesh electrode;
• and further comprising one or more regulators configured to transmit electrons from said source of said second ion beam to said vacuum vessel wall so as to produce the output electrical power.

A method of generating electrical power, the method comprising:

• generating more output electrical power than electrical power input to an apparatus by bringing two species of ions into collisions that induce nuclear fusion reactions, wherein the bringing into collision is carried out devoid of constraining a plasma with a magnetic field;
• wherein the bringing the two species of ions into collisions comprises bringing into said collisions one of said species of ions as a first ion beam and a second of said species of ions as a second ion beam, both said first ion beam and said second ion beam consisting essentially of no electrons;
• and further including:
• evacuating a spherical volume, within a wall, to produce a vacuum sufficient to enable storage of said ion beams;
• forming said first ion beam within the volume;
• forming said second ion beam within the volume;
• electrostatically accelerating, within said spherical volume, said first ion beam to repeatedly collide with said second ion beam in a central region of said spherical volume to produce said collisions, said first ion beam having an average kinetic energy greater than or equal to an average kinetic energy of said second ion beam during said collisions, said first ion beam having an average momentum equal to an average momentum of said second ion beam during said collisions, and said first and second ion beams having a combined kinetic energy sufficient to induce the nuclear fusion reactions when the ions within each beam experience said collisions;
• generating, within said spherical volume, a voltage gradient having a highest positive voltage at said wall;
• regulating transmission of electrons remaining from said forming of said second ion beam to said wall to produce said output electrical power.