Lockheed Martin Claims Sustainable Fusion Is Within Its Grasp

twaddle.newsvine.com ^ | 2015-03-04 | twaddle.newsvine.com

[Dallas59]

Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works claims the ability to generate cheap energy from nuclear fusion with little waste or global warming is within its grasp.

Imagine a source of electrical power that uses water for fuel, produces byproducts that are totally safe and releases no air pollution.

Then imagine that once it's up and running, it'll be so portable that an entire power plant could fit into the cargo hold of an airplane. Now, imagine that it'll be running in prototype form in five years and operating commercially in ten.

[Dallas59]

I'll believe it when I see it.

[Secret Agent Man]

I hope they do it. But they have to prove it.

[Jet Jaguar]

BTTT

[Fiddlstix]

[Vince Ferrer]

Imagine a source of electrical power that uses water for fuel, produces byproducts that are totally safe and releases no air pollution.

It will be banned in America. The Chinese will build them, though.

"Giving society cheap, abundant energy . . . would be the equivalent of giving an idiot child a machine gun."

- Paul Erlich

[Selene]

“running in prototype form in five years and operating commercially in ten.”

2020

mark

[bunkerhill7]

“entire FUSION power plant could fit into the cargo hold of an airplane”

That just great- all we need is a hijacked FUSION system to IRAn for H-Bomb development- really smart Lockheed

[Deagle]

Have heard it before and not holding my breath!

[The Cajun]

From the article:"The Compact Fusion reactor makes use of a magnetic bottle created by superconducting magnets to contain the temperatures that can reach hundreds of millions of degrees. This magnetic bottle can then release some of the heat so that it can be used for power generation."

So what happens if one of the superconducting magnets breaks down and you have hundreds of millions of degrees of plasma bouncing around uncontained?
Does it quench out real quick and the reaction stops or go boom?.............Just asking.

[aquila48]

A lot of imagines and little concrete in that article.

Fusion power has been just around the corner for 50 years.

[Mastador1]

Yeah, yeah, let me know when they have that Mr. Fusion unit to power the flux capacitor, until then it's all just talk.

[meatloaf]

You’re right. Reverse engineering that power source on the alien craft wasn’t as easy as they thought.

[Vince Ferrer]

It has been around the corner for 50 years now, true, but this time it seems to be close. There are several small companies who have plausible designs, and there is a mini space race going on to be the first.

One company was started by a scientist who was doing fusion research for the government, and got sick of the culture where people milked the grant money for their whole careers while not really doing the most they can to actually bring about fusion. It seems there was a lot of complacency in not getting it done. That is probably gone now, replaced by people who actually want to do something.

[TheConservator]

Its the engine from Atlas Shrugged.

[FredZarguna]

Does it quench out real quick and the reaction stop

Yes.

[FredZarguna]

You're just supposed to imagine it.

[Kirkwood]

We heard about this being right around the corner over 50 years ago.

[The Duke]

It’s all about the bucks. No bucks, no Buck Rogers!

[The Cajun]

Thanks for the reply, that's what I thought.

Thought I had read way back when, that was one of the big problems with fusion reactors was maintaining a stable magnetic "bottle" where the plasma wouldn't touch the walls and quench out.

[PhiloBedo]

The government will tax the energy so high, it won’t be any cheaper than current rates.