Talk-Polywell.org

rashudo wrote:So a new player has arrived on the fusion market. And this time it's not some crazy italian professor, but Lockheed Martin, and they're planning to have a working full-scale prototype in 2018.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2013/02/new-go ... kheed.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAsRFVbcyUY

Does anyone of you know Charles Chase?

If this is all true, and it looks to be, then we're going to have fusion very soon.

For quite a while now I've been thinking a lot of the government financed fusion projects have been more concerned with the 'government financed' part and not so much with the 'fusion' part. That's great if you're a PhD that wants a long-term job in which you can always promise more results if you get more money - but lousy if you're looking to produce something practical.

And REALLY lousy if you're actually looking for a return on your investment. Lockheed isn't going to sink a whole lot of money into something they don't expect to turn a profit on.

And if this will fit on a truck - you're looking at something with practical potential in transportation applications, (shipboard power comes to mind - and how many megawatts/equivalent do the engines on a C-5M produce? Could this actually power an aircraft?) and of course power generation.

IF this works as expected (and coming from the Skunk Works I'd expect an 80% chance of that, they've got a pretty good record of building stuff that does what it says on the box, and in one particular case too well - the "Sea Shadow" stealth ship was notably unstealthy because it's radar return was less than the water around it...) then it could be a real game changer on the energy front.

Which means if it works it'll be fought tooth and nail by the environmental lobby. It is, after all, 'nuclear power'.

MSimon wrote:And you need a thermal plant. Which is long lead.

Skipjack wrote:Seems like they have discovered a new possible configuration for a fusion reactor. Wished there were more details revealed about the exact nature of that.
High Beta does sound interesting!
I agree with Msimon that D+T is not ideal, but then their reactor is very compact and has a comparably simple cylindrical configuration. That makes the design as well as maintenance and construction of these reactors a lot cheaper and more efficient, which might help mitigating the high neutron problems a bit.
The 2018 timeframe sounds fantastic!
Personally, I am intrigued.

The energy ranges :
covered were from about 800 keV to 14 MeV for neutrons
and from about 800 keV to 10 MeV for gamma ravs.

MSimon wrote:This is a dead end. D-T fusion. Lots of neutrons. Breeding blanket. 10MW/sq m - cooling is going to be a bit of a problem unless you run it pulsed. And you need a thermal plant. Which is long lead.