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Lockheed says makes breakthrough on fusion energy project

Whenever someone starts talking about some new breakthrough in fusion or fission reactors, I immediately think of some crackpot claiming to have made a great brilliant discovery to extract money from fools or enjoy 15 minutes of fame.

This appears to be legit though, a company like Lockheed would not damage it's credibility willy-nilly. It's an interesting development. A working prototype within the year would be a big deal.
 
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I saw this today too. It's an interesting concept and obviously exactly what the world needs.
A modular 100MW reactor the size of a business jet engine is awesome.
Aviation weekly had a good write up:

http://m.aviationweek.com/technology/skunk-works-reveals-compact-fusion-reactor-details

It sounds like they have made a few breakthroughs but they still need to prove the theory is feasible.

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Arstechnica also had an article and they thought Lockheed was bringing it up now to pursue some outside help/funding to spread the R&D risks out.

It's exciting, but still a big IF. After all fusion is always 20 years away.

(Speaking for myself, I want one for the ISS, huge fragile solar arrays are a pain in the ass)
 
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glenn1 said:
If true I wonder if environmentalist and global warming nuts will embrace or oppose the technology.
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There's virtually no radiation and no chance of going kaboom or melting down. The worst of the waste is about equal to low grade medical waste.

Of course many folks don't let the facts bother them......



And for those questioning whether it's a scam, Lockheed Martins Skunk Works designed and built the U2, SR71 Blackbird, and F117 Stealth Fighter. So they have a track recorded of pulling off some amazing engineering.
 
Double Trouble said:
Whenever someone starts talking about some new breakthrough in fusion or fission reactors, I immediately think of some crackpot claiming to have made a great brilliant discovery to extract money from fools or enjoy 15 minutes of fame.

This appears to be legit though, a company like Lockheed would not damage it's credibility willy-nilly. It's an interesting development. A working prototype within the year would be a big deal.
Click to expand...

This. If it was a university seeking grants, or some other non-major R&D company looking for PR, I might not put as much weight into it. However, this is a company that has a lot of experience doing things that people don't think you can do.
 
Paratus said:
There's virtually no radiation and no chance of going kaboom or melting down. The worst of the waste is about equal to low grade medical waste.

Of course many folks don't let the facts bother them......

And for those questioning whether it's a scam, Lockheed Martins Skunk Works designed and built the U2, SR71 Blackbird, and F117 Stealth Fighter. So they have a track recorded of pulling off some amazing engineering.
Click to expand...

Someone like Dave would likely still oppose it because Lockheed (an evil corporation) invented it, see Monsanto. Some (hopefully tiny) amount of environmentalists only want to reduce global population and see advances like this as a threat. Still others might oppose it because they'd prefer to redistribute existing wealth than create new wealth if it goes to the "wrong" people. And some are just plain Luddites who would oppose this on principle because new technologies are scary.
 
Well, there was that cold fusion mistake a few decades ago so I guess there is a healthy skepticism over breakthroughs in nuclear energy...

However, Lockheed Martin has a good reputation as a result of having had its hand in the development of some of the finest aircraft in aviation history (as at least one poster has previously noted) so I'm cautiously hopeful.


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Interesting. If true, time to buy some Lockheed stock. Says it will fit in a semi-truck. I want one in my pickup truck, no more gas 🙂 Can't wait to hear more. Too bad it will probably be covered in patents and half will be hid from academia.
 
I really do hope we can come up with a viable fusion reactor within the next 20-30 years to pave the way for other alternative energy applications like EVs, etc.
 
Glad it was more than they bought out E-CAT.
The article was very light on what kind of reactor they were working on. Seems to be just a fluff piece.

EDIT: Ran across a better article with more details.
 
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Just focus on AI for crying out loud. All this shit will be child's play. The machines though, they will be nice to us because programming.
 
Don't worry, some of their engineers will work in SI units, and others will work in imperial units. The thing will blow up.


Seriously though, our country should be investing a shit ton of money into fusion research.
 
DrPizza said:
Don't worry, some of their engineers will work in SI units, and others will work in imperial units. The thing will blow up.


Seriously though, our country should be investing a shit ton of money into fusion research.
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As well as investing in finally making the move away from imperial units.
 
PricklyPete said:
As well as investing in finally making the move away from imperial units.
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Yes please. Any time I work in imperial units it slows stuff down. Decimals are simply easier to work with especially if you bring a calculator into the mix.
 
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