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Lockheed says makes breakthrough on fusion energy project
Reuters ^ | 3 hours ago | Andrea Shalal

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 ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: energy; nuclear
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Wait a minute! Hold the phone! Do they seriously mean a FUSION reactor or is the reporter confusing it with a minaturized fission reactor? Because if they seriously have invented a small working fusion reactor that would be the biggest science news in 100 years as the most optimistic experts say a fusion reactor that produces more energy than it consumes is still about 50 years away.
1 posted on 10/15/2014 10:50:41 AM PDT by apillar
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To: apillar

for later


2 posted on 10/15/2014 10:52:36 AM PDT by Doctor 2Brains
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To: apillar
....a 100-megawatt reactor measuring seven feet by 10 feet, which could fit on the back of a large truck,...

A 0.50 laser would be a good thing to have should Zombies apocalypse.

3 posted on 10/15/2014 10:54:08 AM PDT by Paladin2
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To: apillar

I went out to the story and read it. Not a typo.

They said ‘compact FUSION reactor’ uses deuterium-tritium - for now. This one will produce some waste. Future ones using hydrogen won’t.


4 posted on 10/15/2014 10:54:40 AM PDT by RinaseaofDs
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To: Paladin2

A reactor on the back of trucks....

What could possibly go wrong?


5 posted on 10/15/2014 10:55:23 AM PDT by illiac (If we don't change directions soon, we'll get where we're going)
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Comment #6 Removed by Moderator

To: apillar

This would be huge if true. As in, “change the world” huge. Something tells me the environmentalists/leftists would lobby for its outlaw. For no rational reason except the word “nuclear” is a part of the technology.


7 posted on 10/15/2014 10:56:13 AM PDT by BlueStateRightist (Government is best which governs least.)
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To: apillar

10 times smaller than current reactors

I wasn’t aware that there WERE any current Fusion
reactors....????


8 posted on 10/15/2014 10:56:25 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: apillar

No shi’ite!


9 posted on 10/15/2014 10:56:40 AM PDT by Lee'sGhost ("Just look at the flowers, Lizzie. Just look at the flowers.")
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To: illiac
A reactor on the back of trucks.... What could possibly go wrong?

Don't station any in Benghazi.

10 posted on 10/15/2014 10:57:16 AM PDT by Zuben Elgenubi (NOPe to GOPe)
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To: tet68

Actually and current WORKING Fusion reactors...


11 posted on 10/15/2014 10:57:35 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: apillar

If true (and I remain suspicious of the reporting), then this will change the world.

Or be banned.


12 posted on 10/15/2014 10:57:44 AM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: apillar

No, it really is fusion ... here’s the press release straight from the source:

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2014/october/141015ae_lockheed-martin-pursuing-compact-nucelar-fusion.html


13 posted on 10/15/2014 10:57:50 AM PDT by zencycler
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To: apillar

I’ve been hearing that they’ll be in use in ten years for fifty years now.


14 posted on 10/15/2014 10:58:38 AM PDT by blam (Jeff Sessions For President)
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To: apillar

It’s not April 1, is it?


15 posted on 10/15/2014 10:58:53 AM PDT by quietly desperate
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To: apillar

Bttt.

5.56mm


16 posted on 10/15/2014 11:00:06 AM PDT by M Kehoe
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To: apillar

Lots of articles if you gooogle lockheed fusion. I would say they mean fusion, not a Reuters typo.


17 posted on 10/15/2014 11:00:35 AM PDT by Cboldt
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18 posted on 10/15/2014 11:00:50 AM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: Paladin2
"...which could fit on the back of a large truck..."

Advantage: the Deep South, across to Texas.

19 posted on 10/15/2014 11:00:58 AM PDT by alancarp
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To: apillar
If true, it's another triumph for the profit motive.
20 posted on 10/15/2014 11:02:07 AM PDT by ConservingFreedom (A goverrnment strong enough to impose your standards is strong enough to ban them.)
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