Science Lockheed Martin Fusion announcement

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

Lockheed's website for it: http://lockheedmartin.com/us/products/compact-fusion.html

It's a commercial, of course, but interesting nonetheless.

The video is meh but still worth a look:

http://youtu.be/UlYClniDFkM

One thing is apparent after watching it; they seem pretty confident this is going to work. Gonna be some hurt feelings if it doesn't.

Looked at that link... yeah, I do not know what to say. It sounds serious enough, but the details are nonexistent as to the how/why it works.

It sounds sketchy, but the skunkworks have quite the reputation for it to be complete nonsense. This is quite the mystery. :uhh:

 

[Donamy]

It would also eliminate the oil, coal and solar industries. Like they'll let that happen.

 

[RisingFury]

It wouldn't happen over night.

There were still propeller driven combat aircraft used in the Vietnam war

 

[fsci123]

I'm pretty sure the costs of the reactors would exceed the costs of traditional nuclear plants by factors of 10s. These won't be replacing oil, gas, or coal any time soon.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

It wouldn't happen over night.

There were still propeller driven combat aircraft used in the Vietnam war

For damn good reason: the ability to haul an enormous amount of ordinance for a long time.

 

[Zatnikitelman]

Skunk Works? Interesting. I knew Lockheed was into lots more than aerospace but I always figured Skunk Works for a strictly airplane/spaceship lab.

Doesn't look like Lockheed Martin is revealing many details, such as what type of fusion this thing is, with regards to fuel type, etc. I am skeptical but eager to read more.

It makes sense. If the fuel tank for this thing is small enough, you could effectively have a long-range aircraft that doesn't need aerial refueling. Something like that would be very attractive to the military even in just a transport role. Non-stop C-5 flights from the U.S. to anywhere would be great.

 

[Andy44]

It would also eliminate the oil, coal and solar industries. Like they'll let that happen.

That's just a conspiracy theory. Even if true, Lockheed is a very large company that knows how to play hardball with the likes of Exxon and BP and has a ton of political clout.

I'm pretty sure the costs of the reactors would exceed the costs of traditional nuclear plants by factors of 10s. These won't be replacing oil, gas, or coal any time soon.

I doubt it. Fission reactor cost a lot of money because of safety features, containment structures, regulation, etc. A fusion reactor that fits on a tractor-trailer truck wouldn't need anywhere near the level of insfrastructure a fission plant does.

Fusion also wouldn't produce the level of long-term waste fission does, and manufacturing fission fuel is also expensive and hazardous as well.

And the nice thing about fusion is that it won't ever melt down. If something goes wrong you just turn it off and it stops. No decay heat, no spent fuel pools to worry about. Just some neutron-activated structure around the reactor itself, which is easier to deal with.

All assuming, of course, that this story isn't fantasy to begin with...

 

[Urwumpe]

That's just a conspiracy theory. Even if true, Lockheed is a very large company that knows how to play hardball with the likes of Exxon and BP and has a ton of political clout.

Still, history is full of examples how an established industry uses dirty methods to get rid of nasty upstarts that could ruin their business.

The good news are: They never win against progress. But they can delay it. The first company to build a CFC-free fridge was killed by the accumulated German white goods industry during the chaos of the reunification (With politicians acting as accomplices). But only five years later, one of the big white goods companies presented their own CFC-free fridge, now they are standard.