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| CREDIT: REUTERS/LOCKHEED MARTIN |
◼ SAYS FIRST COMPACT REACTORS COULD BE READY FOR USE IN 10 YEARS; SOME ARE SKEPTICAL - Newser
Lockheed Martin announced yesterday that it has made what Reuters calls a "technological breakthrough" in the area of compact nuclear fusion. The upshot is that reactors "small enough to fit on the back of a truck" could be here within 10 years. As Forbes explains, nuclear fusion combines two atoms into one, creating as much as quadruple the energy as nuclear fission (when an atom is split in two), and it does so without producing radiation. Project head Tom McGuire says Lockheed has been working on its compact fusion concept secretly for four years, but it's now looking for industry and government partners. "The smaller size will allow us to design, build, and test the compact fusion reactor in less than a year," says McGuire, with a prototype coming in five years. But some are skeptical...◼ Lockheed says makes breakthrough on fusion energy project - Reuters
If it proves feasible, Lockheed's work would mark a key breakthrough in a field that scientists have long eyed as promising, but which has not yet yielded viable power systems. The effort seeks to harness the energy released during nuclear fusion, when atoms combine into more stable forms.
"We can make a big difference on the energy front," McGuire said, noting Lockheed's 60 years of research on nuclear fusion as a potential energy source that is safer and more efficient than current reactors based on nuclear fission.
◼ Lockheed Martin Claims Fusion Breakthrough That Could Change World Forever - Forbes
