WB6 World Record Fusion

The WB-6 device achieved fusion performance unprecedented in laboratory history and subsequently buried under classification. In late 2005, operating at 12 kilovolt drive and 10 kilovolt well depth, the compact polyhedral configuration produced proton-boron fusion reactions exceeding 10^9 per second—one hundred thousand times greater than Farnsworth-Hirsch, the previous record holders. The breakthrough hinged on achieving beta-one conditions: plasma kinetic pressure matching magnetic confinement pressure, the critical threshold where cusp losses transform from linear to quadratic scaling. Robert Bussard's presentation captures the achievement's significance: 'It worked like a champ... proved we had all missed the obvious. For 15 years, none of us saw these obvious facts.' The device's compact geometry—fabricated hastily in July-August 2005 following insight from earlier WB-series iterations—demonstrated that practical fusion required neither billion-dollar tokamak installations nor decades of incremental advance, but rather geometric insight into point-cusp topology. The Defense Nuclear Agency and DARPA funding, initiated after DOE rejection as 'too cheap, too quick,' suggests military rather than civilian application drove development. The 11-year publication embargo—initiated immediately following successful operation—indicated operational significance transcending academic interest.