Posted by Tina
Wow…breakthrough anyone? A local CBS affiliate in Washington reports:
CBS Local — Lockheed Martin has reportedly been working on a revolutionary new type of reactor that can power anything from cities to aircraft carriers.
The Maryland-based defense contractor recently received a patent for the compact fusion reactor (CFR) after filing plans for the device in 2014. According to reports, one generator would be as small as a shipping container but produce the energy to power 80,000 homes or one of the U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class carriers.
Lockheed’s advanced projects division, Skunk Works, has reportedly been working on the futuristic power source since 2014 and claimed at the time that a CFR could be ready for production by 2019. …
… According to a report by The Drive, nuclear fusion is a much safer process of creating energy than fission. The fusion process heats up a gaseous fuel to the point where its atomic structure fuses with other particles to create heavier elements.
“The nice thing about a fusion reaction is that if somehow it would go out of control, it would just stop itself automatically,” William & Mary’s Saskia Mordijck told Phys.org in 2012. “If a fission reaction goes out of control, it can really go out of control. You can’t stop it and it actually might go into a nuclear meltdown.”
Video at Lockheed Martin’s website: “Fusion is the process by which a gas is heated up and separated into its ions and electrons. When the ions get hot enough, they can overcome their mutual repulsion and collide, fusing together. When this happens, they release a lot of energy – about one million times more powerful than a chemical reaction and 3-4 times more powerful than a fission reaction.”
Although I posted this on April 1st it is not a “fools” joke article to my knowledge.
TGTBT
Joe, I thought so too until I watched the video at the link provided. It looks like they are well on the way to perfecting the technology and creating their first prototype!
The other day the Rooskies came out and said they have a nuclear powered hypersonic cruise missiles. The propulsion system sounds like it may be similar. I don’t think the timing of this announcement by Lockheed is a coincidence. I will believe that Lockheed’s patent actually works when I see the results. If it does work it will change the world forever in ways we can’t fully comprehend at this time. At this point I am very skeptical Lockheed’s patent will actually work.
Joe you’re right about the Russians. One tech site calls it “possible… and awful:
All of that is built around nuclear fission with the all too familiar risks. I guess Romney was right after all when he said that Russia represents the biggest threat to America…remarks that were met with smirks.
Fusion is another animal so skepticism is warranted. Time will tell.
Yes, skepticism is warranted. And patents may not add up to diddly squat. Remember cold fusion?
https://www.wired.com/1998/03/cold-fusion-patents-run-out-of-steam/
Very well. For awhile there, one research group after another claimed they has solved it.
Still…we’ve come a long was since The Wright brothers took flight; things never happen till they do.