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Lockheed Martin makes fusion breakthrough
http://aviationweek.com/technology/s...eactor-details ^

Posted on 10/15/2014 7:38:31 PM PDT by jyro

Hidden away in the secret depths of the Skunk Works, a Lockheed Martin research team has been working quietly on a nuclear energy concept they believe has the potential to meet, if not eventually decrease, the world’s insatiable demand for power.

Dubbed the compact fusion reactor (CFR), the device is conceptually safer, cleaner and more powerful than much larger, current nuclear systems that rely on fission, the process of splitting atoms to release energy. Crucially, by being “compact,” Lockheed believes its scalable concept will also be small and practical enough for applications ranging from interplanetary spacecraft and commercial ships to city power stations. It may even revive the concept of large, nuclear-powered aircraft that virtually never require refueling—ideas of which were largely abandoned more than 50 years ago because of the dangers and complexities involved with nuclear fission reactors.


TOPICS: History; Local News; Science; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: fusion; fusionoilenergy; lockheedmartin; ourtroublesareover; skunkworks; stringtheory
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To: exDemMom

They are hawking a scam, so I imagine they’ll look for taxpayer money.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/scientists-bashing-lockheed-martins-nuclear-232518813.html


21 posted on 10/15/2014 9:03:41 PM PDT by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: jyro

22 posted on 10/15/2014 9:04:42 PM PDT by PLMerite
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3215696/posts


23 posted on 10/15/2014 9:05:22 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: 6SJ7; AdmSmith; AFPhys; Arkinsaw; allmost; aristotleman; autumnraine; backwoods-engineer; ...
Thanks jyro.


· List topics · post a topic · subscribe · Google ·

24 posted on 10/15/2014 9:06:18 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: Moonman62

There are some quotes from people who have a lot to lose. That’s not realism, that’s like having the fat kid guard the pie.


25 posted on 10/15/2014 9:10:15 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

That’s not realism,

...

What then is Lockheed’s claim?


26 posted on 10/15/2014 9:12:51 PM PDT by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: jyro

As will soon be released, this was actually discovered by Algore. And John F’n Kerry was there.


27 posted on 10/15/2014 9:14:41 PM PDT by Rembrandt (Part of the 51% who pay Federal taxes)
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To: jyro
Hidden away in the secret depths of the Skunk Works, a Lockheed Martin research team has been working quietly on a nuclear energy concept they believe has the potential to meet, if not eventually decrease, the world’s insatiable demand for power.

Yeah, let's just hand it over to the rest of world on a silver platter. I'm sure ALL the other nations of the world would do the same for us if the shoe were on the other foot. /s

28 posted on 10/15/2014 9:35:57 PM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: jyro

I’ve always wondered, maybe someone can say:

If we’ve had nuclear reactors on submarines for the past decades why, considering the advances in other similar technologies, has that power not become commonplace for the consumer market?


29 posted on 10/15/2014 9:36:29 PM PDT by bakeneko
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To: Moonman62

i figured they released this to get some grant money from some alphabet agency, to keep them in the govt loop and make sure their other current projects don’t get dropped - whether this claim is real or not.

You wanna cut the f-35? so you’re not interested in our nuclear fusion project going on...?


30 posted on 10/15/2014 9:37:26 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man ( Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: jyro

good PR, not much meat


31 posted on 10/15/2014 9:48:42 PM PDT by dila813
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To: jyro

Which gives Chinese and Russian hackers more incentive to obtain the knowledge to do this.


32 posted on 10/15/2014 9:57:23 PM PDT by daniel1212 (Come to the Lord Jesus as a contrite damned+destitute sinner, trust Him to save you, then live 4 Him)
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To: mozarky2
I work in the power industry - we have a saying - fusion is 30 years away. We’ve been saying that consistently for 30 years.

That's been my understanding for decades now. To this point, I've never heard of anyone building a working fusion reactor.

33 posted on 10/15/2014 10:01:07 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: Minsc
The last I knew it couldn’t sustain a reaction for very long.

That sounds believable. Thanks.

34 posted on 10/15/2014 10:02:36 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: LibWhacker

John Galt


35 posted on 10/15/2014 10:06:13 PM PDT by satan (The tree of liberty is dying in the drought.)
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To: bigbob

Do they know the difference between miles and kilometers?


36 posted on 10/15/2014 10:11:01 PM PDT by gura (If Allah is so great, why does he need fat sexually confused fanboys to do his dirty work? -iowahawk)
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To: Windflier
On an earlier thread, it was stated that Lockheed-Martin intends to have a working prototype online by 2017.

IIRC, they said the same thing in 1958 in the UK where they were going to have a ZETA fusion reactor online in that year. It would be nice but until it delivers what it promises, I will remain a it skeptical. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it, but from the 1940's onward, we always got "punk'd" when it came to atomic fusion.
37 posted on 10/15/2014 10:27:27 PM PDT by Nowhere Man (Mom I miss you! (8-20-1938 to 11-18-2013) Cancer sucks)
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To: SunkenCiv
Back in the Jurassic, I was writing similar reports on Fusion Reactors for an Electric Utility. It was largely hoopla, as the powerco was funding the research as part of their "Green" commitment. It is amazing to me that the environmentalist shedazzle has changed very little in the last 50 years, with the notable exception of "Global Warming." In fact, back then the "Greens" were worried about "Global Cooling."

In the meantime, back in olde India, they are commercially building small Thorium-rather-than-Uranium-based modular generating units for villages that are not on the transmission grid. While not quite as efficient as Uranium-based reactors, they are a great deal easier to operate and dare I say it, safer.

Perfect for Alaska, freeing remote settlements from visits by the expensive ice-breaker tanker deliveries they now depend upon to keep the lights on all winter. Order one today!

38 posted on 10/15/2014 10:56:05 PM PDT by Kenny Bunk (Program. Plan. Leader? Because not being Obama is not enough to save the Republic.)
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To: jyro

Going to contribute to global warming so stop this Obama!

All these electronic gadgets will be powered so cheaply the third world countries will buy tons of electronics and that will require plastic and precious metals....strip mines...oil...HELP!!!!


39 posted on 10/16/2014 2:14:48 AM PDT by If You Want It Fixed - Fix It
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To: Moonman62
They are hawking a scam, so I imagine they’ll look for taxpayer money.

In my own field, I see this kind of press release/investor recruitment all the time. I always tell people that such press releases are for the purpose of attracting investors, so may overstate the results of the research.

In my experience, people go to the government to apply for grants to do the basic research. It is when they are closer to having a commercial product--and are moving beyond the basic research stage, when the government funding dries up--that you begin to see these press releases.

I wouldn't call it a scam. It's just how research and product development works.

40 posted on 10/16/2014 4:32:09 AM PDT by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
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