I see that former astronaut (and, oh yeah, Honorable Senator) Jack Schmitt is connected to the University of Wisconsin IEC project.

Seems like there are a few knowledgeable people that reckon the moon has some valuable resources, like Helium-3. (WHAT? I thought helium had mostly escaped from the Earth already! If there’s Helium to be found on the moon, doesn’t that raise some intriguing questions of how it occurs?)

The arguments for near-term utility of IEC (Inertial Electrostatic Confinement) for fusion list some interesting potential applications:

* Detection of explosives in baggage
* Radioisotope production
* Food sterilization
* Positron production
* Detection of Highly Enriched Uranium
* Location of chemical and radioactive waste
* Gemstone enhancement
* Fission waste transmutation

An online article titled “>Non-Electric Applications of Fusion”expands the details a bit more:

High energy neutrons can be very useful for the following processes:
i.) production of radioisotopes (for medical applications and research)
ii.) detection of specific elements or isotopes in complex environments
iii.) radiotherapy
iv.) alteration of the electrical, optical, or mechanical properties of solids
v.) destruction of long-lived radioactive waste
Low energy neutrons can be very useful for the following processes:
i.) production of radioisotopes (for medical applications and research)
ii.) detection of specific elements or isotopes in complex environments
iii.) destruction of long-lived radioactive waste
iv.) production of tritium for military and civilian applications
v.) production of fissile material
vi.) destruction of fissile material for nuclear warheads
vii.) production of radioisotopes for portable g ray sources
High energy protons can be used for the following processes:
i.) production of radioisotopes (for medical applications and research)
ii.) detection of specific elements or isotopes in complex environments
iii.) destruction of long-lived radioactive waste
6
Electromagnetic Radiation (ER) can be used for:
i.) food sterilization
ii.) equipment sterilization
iii.) pulsed x-ray sources
Ultra high heat fluxes from fusion grade plasmas, sometimes called a “Fusion Torch”
9 can be used for:
i.) ionizing waste materials and separating elements
a.) municipal and medical wastes
b.) spent reactor fuel elements
c.) chemical weapons
d.) extractive metallurgy
ii.) production of sources of intense radiation to treat industrial, medical,
and municipal wastes

I assume these will only come to pass when a hand-held IEC device is ready for market. Or laptop version. (sorry i’m incurably sarcastic. it’s printed on my driver’s license.) But seriously, you can’t just order a few grams of low-energy neutrons to sprinkle on a suspicious suitcase at the airport.