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Lockheed Martin's Patent for a Fusion Reactor the Size of a Shipping Container

posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday March 28 2018, @01:48AM   Printer-friendly
from the mr.-fusion dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Lockheed Martin has quietly obtained a patent associated with its design for a potentially revolutionary compact fusion reactor, or CFR. If this project has been progressing on schedule, the company could debut a prototype system that size of shipping container, but capable of powering a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier or 80,000 homes, sometime in the next year or so.

The patent, for a portion of the confinement system, or embodiment, is dated Feb. 15, 2018. The Maryland-headquartered defense contractor had filed a provisional claim on April 3, 2013 and a formal application nearly a year later. Our good friend Stephen Trimble, chief of Flightglobal's Americas Bureau, subsequently spotted it and Tweeted out its basic details.

In 2014, the company also made a splash by announcing they were working on the device at all and that it was the responsibility of its Skunk Works advanced projects office in Palmdale, California. At the time, Dr. Thomas McGuire, head of the Skunk Works’ Compact Fusion Project, said the goal was to have a working reactor in five years and production worthy design within 10.

[...] Considering the five year timeline Dr. McGuire put out in 2014 for achieving a workable prototype, maybe we’re due for another big announcement from Lockheed Martin in the near future.

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  • (Score: 2) by Knowledge Troll on Thursday March 29 2018, @03:38AM (1 child)

    by Knowledge Troll (5948) on Thursday March 29 2018, @03:38AM (#659840) Homepage Journal

    It isn't going to be instant free power for everyone like people have been promising. It's going to start out expensive and get better over time. Just like any technology.

    I have been thinking about that point more and more and it is a really good one. Lockheed I'm sure expects this to be quite lucrative for them on a per unit basis. They aren't into mass manufacturing things like GE washing machines. They want to make a handful of expensive things and sell them to discerning customers such as the US military.

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  • (Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday March 29 2018, @09:25PM

    by nitehawk214 (1304) on Thursday March 29 2018, @09:25PM (#660206)

    Another poster mentioned the absurd actual cost of shipping fuel to deserts in the middle east. The military does not care much for cost effectiveness, and by proxy, neither does Lockheed. So I would be very surprised if this thing made any sort of economical sense.

    --
    "Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh