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Sunday, October 19, 2014

Nuclear Fusion to Become a Viable Energy Source?

This Reuters article says Lockheed Martin has made a major breakthrough on developing energy from nuclear fusion. In my lifetime there have been similar reports on this that did not pan out. But this one seems more possible. Here are some quotes.

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(Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp said on Wednesday it had made a technological breakthrough in developing a power source based on nuclear fusion, and the first reactors, small enough to fit on the back of a truck, could be ready for use in a decade.
Tom McGuire, who heads the project, said he and a small team had been working on fusion energy at Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works for about four years, but were now going public to find potential partners in industry and government for their work.

Initial work demonstrated the feasibility of building a 100-megawatt reactor measuring seven feet by 10 feet, which could fit on the back of a large truck, and is about 10 times smaller than current reactors, McGuire told reporters.

In a statement, the company, the Pentagon's largest supplier, said it would build and test a compact fusion reactor in less than a year, and build a prototype in five years.
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My Comment: This story falls in the potential good news category. If this technology really can deliver cleaner energy at a reasonable price in the future, that is good news for everyone. Also, this kind of progress could be a boost to the global economy and a stabilizing force for the monetary system some day. With all the problems we report on here, we also try to report potential good news if we see that as well.

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