what are the implications of this?
In fact, I'm assuming and hoping for the sake of his neighbours that he's not actually attempting fusion. If I recall correctly, doing actual fusion with one of these requires deuterium and tritium and produces a crapload of neutrons for which I really doubt he has adequate shielding.
I'm pretty sure the experiment which he's attempting to replicate was never done with deuterium-tritium either, for similar reasons.
In fact, I'm assuming and hoping for the sake of his neighbours that
he's not actually attempting fusion. If I recall correctly, doing
actual fusion with one of these requires deuterium and tritium and
produces a crapload of neutrons for which I really doubt he has
adequate shielding.
The very lowest-energy-threshold fusion reaction is deuterium-tritium, so must research tokamak reactors use that. The JET[1], ITER[2], et al.
But tritium is both expensive and excitingly dangerous, (It's an alpha emitter, which is ordinarily harmless, since the alpha particles aren't energetic enough to penetrate skin; but it's a radioactive gas, not a solid, so you can inhale it and get all sorts of amusing cancers) so real amateurs prefer Deuterium-Deuterium fusion, and the kind of fusion reactor that that produce the higher energies needed to accomplish it, known as fusors[3].
D-D fusion does produce neutrons, you are correct. But the PF reactor is a pulsed device, with a tiny coil size: it doesn't make many neutrons, and it produces them for seconds at a time. This guy has been checked out by the NYFD, and they've signed off on the project. If it was a power reactor, neutron emission would be a problem, but it's not, so it ain't.
1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_European_Torus 2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITER 3: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusor
Err... you sure about that? Must be some interesting physics going on for a p-n-n to emit a p-p-n-n. ;-)
I'm guessing you meant beta emitter?
Well, OK then. Important safety tip: Don't cross the streams.
D-D fusion produces a 2.54 MeV neutron 50% of the time.
"Top 10 reasons your fusion is not reaching customers."
Why bother posting detailed information about what kind of reaction is going on when you can make a simple joke about nuclear power and get as much karma? Why bother posting something intelligent when it will be buried below puns?
I used to think HN downvoting humor was bad, but I've really come to agree with it after looking at some attempts at serious discussion on reddit. Without fail, by the third comment or so, someone will derail it with a predictable joke or pun. Humor is easy. Interesting comments are not.
Edited to add: may you dour bastards choke on something.