Posted on 10/15/2014 10:50:41 AM PDT by apillar
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp said on Wednesday it had made a technological breakthrough in developing a power source based on nuclear fusion, and the first reactors, small enough to fit on the back of a truck, could be ready for use in a decade.
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Tritium decay is beta - no big deal. It’s the neutrons from fusion that will make the reactor vessel radioactive, if this works. Still, after a 30 year life, one radioactive reactor vessel is not much of a price to pay for all that energy.
Note: If true (a HUGE “if”), this will change the world’s economy and eliminate OPEC’s power.
The only fusion reactors I knew of where our Sun (stars) and bombs.
either true and cool, or false to secure govt money/related contracts and assume epa and econuts will block them from buildig it due to waste products/fear of explosive contamiation, habitat endagerment, etc.
Won’t this be dangerous to some Snail Darter or salamander?
Pick this upgrade up next time you need to swap out your Flux Capacitor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlYClniDFkM
Lockheed is a large, old, well-established company. It will be very embarrassing if this flops.
Yes, that’s correct - “high beta” - the press release from Lockheed made that pretty clear, and as usual, it gets embellished and hyped when translated by the media.
bkmk
You seem to have missed the point, so I assume you didn’t watch the video.
Its already scaled up!
No ‘Helmet to helmet contact’ allowed.......5000 yard penalty........................
I do some of my own car repairs and I like O'Reilly. I'll have to get this upgrade so I can be ready for my upcoming trip to 1955. :)
There’s some people who have a sense of humor!
No argument here.
Yep, those fast neutrons will quickly destroy the first wall.
If the reactor vessel (the first wall) lasts a year, I’ll be surprised.
The problem is that one tritium atom is produced for each neutron absorbed. The fusion reaction produces only one neutron. Therefore, we will see a net decrease in tritium if any neutrons are not absorbed by a lithium atom (I guarantee that some neutrons will not be absorbed by lithium atom) or if we are unable to recover 100% of the tritium from the blanket (I know of no chemical processes with a 100% recovery rate).
In any case, we're talking about something having low level radioactivity for 100 years, not 'glow in the dark' for 10,000 years. The small amount of really nasty stuff has a very short half life, so you store it for 90 days and bury it in the desert. It would probably be lower than the background rate in many places, like the White Mountains in NH or central VA.
Forgot ISIS
I do some of my own car repairs and I like O'Reilly. I'll have to get this upgrade so I can be ready for my upcoming trip to 1955. :)
Biff, if you do go back, be sure not to forget this:
Oh, and if you run into Lorraine, back off... she's going to the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance with George McFly.
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