[HN Gopher] Skunk Works Reveals Compact Fusion Reactor Details (...
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       Skunk Works Reveals Compact Fusion Reactor Details (2014)
        
       Author : graderjs
       Score  : 36 points
       Date   : 2022-03-16 16:02 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (aviationweek.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (aviationweek.com)
        
       | acidburnNSA wrote:
       | Always worth balancing these with my favorite skeptical fusion
       | article: VooDoo Fusion Energy
       | 
       | https://vixra.org/pdf/1812.0382v1.pdf
        
         | danuker wrote:
         | From the PDF:
         | 
         | > Lockheed-Martin Compact Fusion
         | 
         | > "Lockheed will have a small fusion reactor prototype
         | (powerplant) in five years...and a commercial application
         | within a decade," from MIT Technology Review, 10/20/2014.
         | 
         | > "Net energy gain in 2020 and commercial powerplant targeted
         | for 2024," from NBF May 3, 2016.
         | 
         | I suspect we would have heard if they had achieved net energy
         | gain.
        
           | multiplegeorges wrote:
           | > I suspect we would have heard if they had achieved net
           | energy gain.
           | 
           | I dunno, Skunkworks doesn't traditionally like to publicize
           | major breakthroughs until decades later.
        
             | monocasa wrote:
             | They were pretty heavily targeting civilian commercial
             | applications. If they were keeping it under wraps we would
             | have simply not heard anything at all.
        
               | hajile wrote:
               | Or the second they got close the feds stepped in and
               | squashed further comment with a gag order.
        
               | monocasa wrote:
               | The current thought has been that civilian use and
               | proliferation of fusion reactors is a positive thing for
               | the US's security posture, since it opens up nuclear
               | power generation options without nuclear weapons
               | proliferation concerns. Ie. it removes 'this fission
               | reactor is just for power generation, totes not breeding
               | plutonium, or using the centrifuges to develop a weapon'
               | shtick you see from states wishing to become nuclear
               | powers.
        
       | RobertMiller wrote:
       | This reveal from Lockheed coincided with the 2014 IAEA Conference
       | on Fusion Energy, which was being held in Saint Petersburg. Make
       | of this what you will.
       | 
       | https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/mediaadvisories/iaea-confere...
        
       | SHAKEDECADE wrote:
       | The first sentence was great! but the paywall stopped me short of
       | finishing the second sentence. From what I could read though, it
       | looks like Skunk Works has some great things in the works.
        
         | mechanical_bear wrote:
         | Yeah, this seems of very limited utility. I wonder what the
         | overlap is between the two readerships.
        
       | JanSolo wrote:
       | This article was from 8 years ago... anyone have any updates on
       | progress or testing of this system?
        
         | monocasa wrote:
         | They had four prototypes, and were building the fifth prototype
         | in 2019. Radio silence since then. None of the five designed to
         | be usable as a power generation device, just prototyping their
         | novel confinement topology. https://lynceans.org/wp-
         | content/uploads/2021/02/Lockheed-Mar...
        
       | tiahura wrote:
       | I thought I remember reading that output estimates got cut in
       | half, twice, and that the program fizzled.
        
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       (page generated 2022-03-16 23:01 UTC)