Lockheed Fusion Powered Engine

AuntPeggy

AuntPeggy

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This just in:
Hidden away in the secret depths of the Skunk Works, a Lockheed Martin research team has been working quietly on a nuclear energy concept they believe has the potential to meet, if not eventually decrease, the world’s insatiable demand for power.

Dubbed the compact fusion reactor (CFR), the device is conceptually safer, cleaner and more powerful than much larger, current nuclear systems that rely on fission, the process of splitting atoms to release energy. Crucially, by being “compact,” Lockheed believes its scalable concept will also be small and practical enough for applications ranging from interplanetary spacecraft and commercial ships to city power stations. It may even revive the concept of large, nuclear-powered aircraft that virtually never require refueling—ideas of which were largely abandoned more than 50 years ago because of the dangers and complexities involved with nuclear fission reactors.
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http://aviationweek.com/technology/skunk-works-reveals-compact-fusion-reactor-details
 
The issue is that it's just a concept on paper at the moment. They will have to invent technology and that may take awhile.

Awesome none the less.
 
Unfortunately, even if it were to work, it would be too disruptive to the agendas of too many and too diverse a group of political special interests to ever be implemented. It would **** people off across the political spectrum.

Rich
 
It's Skunkworks... I bought LM stock betting on them. You need to be more hopeful, it's likely our last chance as a species to get it right.
 
Henning said:
It's Skunkworks... I bought LM stock betting on them. You need to be more hopeful, it's likely our last chance as a species to get it right.
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I'm hopeful and optimistic. It is easy to get discouraged from all the negative vibes though. Back when we used to be "the greatest country in the world" (or at least thought we were), we would all be thrilled about this. And we were able to get some great things done. I guess now we are a country full of cynics and pessimists.
 
RJM62 said:
Unfortunately, even if it were to work, it would be too disruptive to the agendas of too many and too diverse a group of political special interests to ever be implemented. It would **** people off across the political spectrum.

Rich
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Horsepucky.

Lots of technical wishful thinking is going on, but that old saw about "special interests" suppressing technology doesn't happen. Much more money is made when the technology comes out.

Rememer the supposed secret GM 100 MPG carburetor? Had that actually existed, the results would have been like the introduction of the Prius.
 
MAKG1 said:
Horsepucky.

Lots of technical wishful thinking is going on, but that old saw about "special interests" suppressing technology doesn't happen. Much more money is made when the technology comes out.

Rememer the supposed secret GM 100 MPG carburetor? Had that actually existed, the results would have been like the introduction of the Prius.
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Consider some of the entities whose stakeholders would stand to lose from the commercialization of such a technology:


  • Big oil and all that industry's ancillaries.
  • All petroleum-producing countries.
  • The coal industry (what little is left of it, anyway).
  • Natural gas mining and distribution companies.
  • Corn farmers and the rest of the ethanol racket.
  • Wind, solar, and whatever other "green" energy companies are out there.
  • Asian solar and wind component manufacturers and their rare-earth mining industry.

There are lots of lobbying dollars flowing from those industries, and it flows to both sides of the aisle.

Rich
 
The Ice Men were Teamsters and ice industry huge, they didn't manage to stop refrigeration.
 
RJM62 said:
Consider some of the entities whose stakeholders would stand to lose from the commercialization of such a technology:


  • Big oil and all that industry's ancillaries.
  • All petroleum-producing countries.
  • The coal industry (what little is left of it, anyway).
  • Natural gas mining and distribution companies.
  • Corn farmers and the rest of the ethanol racket.
  • Wind, solar, and whatever other "green" energy companies are out there.
  • Asian solar and wind component manufacturers and their rare-earth mining industry.

There are lots of lobbying dollars flowing from those industries, and it flows to both sides of the aisle.

Rich
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None of these factors stopped fission nuclear reactors from being built. Why would it stop a fusion reactor from being built, if the techological hurdles could be solved?

You could use the same "logic" to pick out any single one of your bullets and say all the others are stacked against it, too...yet they all exist.
 
Jim_R said:
None of these factors stopped fission nuclear reactors from being built. Why would it stop a fusion reactor from being built, if the techological hurdles could be solved?

You could use the same "logic" to pick out any single one of your bullets and say all the others are stacked against it, too...yet they all exist.
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That is debatable, there are those who would argue that the coal companies were behind the anti nuclear movement which did shut down the development of nuclear energy capacity.
 
Henning said:
That is debatable, there are those who would argue that the coal companies were behind the anti nuclear movement which did shut down the development of nuclear energy capacity.
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There are those that lie.

The domestic nuclear industry was hamstrung by the Three Mile Island accident. There was no need for any outside interest to do anything.
 
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Old news!! :D
 

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Jim_R said:
None of these factors stopped fission nuclear reactors from being built. Why would it stop a fusion reactor from being built, if the techological hurdles could be solved?

You could use the same "logic" to pick out any single one of your bullets and say all the others are stacked against it, too...yet they all exist.
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The difference is that the other vested interests tend to be strongly polarized along political party lines and are often in opposition. But they all have in common that they would be hurt by a virtually inexhaustible clean energy source. Their common opposition to such a thing would allow them to buy twice as many politicians to protect their respective interests.

Politics does indeed make strange bedfellows.

Rich
 
RJM62 said:
The difference is that the other vested interests tend to be strongly polarized along political party lines and are often in opposition. But they all have in common that they would be hurt by a virtually inexhaustible clean energy source. Their common opposition to such a thing would allow them to buy twice as many politicians to protect their respective interests.

Politics does indeed make strange bedfellows.

Rich
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There are plenty of examples of compelling business models and technologies overcoming determined vested interests throughout history. If LM's onto something real, then it'll come to fruition eventually, no matter what gets stacked against it.
 
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If the gas companies really had all that much say in thing, we'd be seeing Priuses and any EVs/hybrids outlawed. Meanwhile we're seeing SUVs and pickups getting 20-25 MPG on the highway now on regular (my '97 BMW 740iL and '93 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 barely get that), and clearly EVs and hybrids are having a continual growth in popularity. CNG cars will never be more than a niche, but for the people who have them, they're very popular. I was considering it myself.

I'm really not too concerned about those interest groups.
 
Very timely...I just listened to a couple of podcasts about nuclear fusion, very enlightening.

One, Stuff You Should Know-Nuclear Fusion, and Two- Omega Tau, from Germany, in English, talking with a member of the ITER project

The first one is easy to understand, but the second is way complicated for this boy.

The ITER project is a $50 billion nuclear fusion project sited in France, funded 45% by the EU, with other participants (including USA), due to open in 2027. (Current target, which has been moved back a number of times).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITER

The big money is on ITER, not the other way around.
 
One of the reasons I would love to get into Area 51, not the alleged UFO crap. But the suff they work on has got to be mind blowing. How long were they working on the F117 and B2 before they went public.
 
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