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Lockheed's Fusion Reactor?
Oct. 16th, 2014 07:12 amLockheed-Martin apparently has been working on nuclear fusion, and yesterday they claimed a breakthrough:
The goal is customer-ready fusion reactors in ten years.
There are good reasons to be skeptical of Lockheed's claim. Lots and lots of good reasons. But if Lockheed can pull it off, they have a built-in customer base already lined up: the Pentagon. Bases need power, and a 100-MW generator small enough so that you could (perhaps) fit five to eight of them on a C-130H, and then fuel them with light, compact tanks of exotic material, would save the Pentagon a lot of logistical headaches. The Navy would almost certainly retrofit their fleet with these as well.
With a customer base like that, widespread civilian fusion power is nearly inevitable.
Of course, that all depends on Lockheed not being full of shit.
Initial work demonstrated the feasibility of building a 100-megawatt reactor measuring seven feet by 10 feet, which could fit on the back of a large truck, and is about 10 times smaller than current reactors, McGuire told reporters.
In a statement, the company, the Pentagon's largest supplier, said it would build and test a compact fusion reactor in less than a year, and build a prototype in five years.
The goal is customer-ready fusion reactors in ten years.
There are good reasons to be skeptical of Lockheed's claim. Lots and lots of good reasons. But if Lockheed can pull it off, they have a built-in customer base already lined up: the Pentagon. Bases need power, and a 100-MW generator small enough so that you could (perhaps) fit five to eight of them on a C-130H, and then fuel them with light, compact tanks of exotic material, would save the Pentagon a lot of logistical headaches. The Navy would almost certainly retrofit their fleet with these as well.
With a customer base like that, widespread civilian fusion power is nearly inevitable.
Of course, that all depends on Lockheed not being full of shit.
