
Lockheed Martin's new fusion reactor might change humanity forever - hsnewman
https://gizmodo.com/lockheed-martins-new-fusion-reactor-might-change-humani-1646578094/
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nabla9
There are many interesting developments in fusion reactors, but this project
almost certainly is not the one. If I could bet on betting markets, this CFR
reactor project is the least likely to succeed.

People involved know enough about plasma physics to get in trouble and run
plasma simulations, but they don't know not enough particle physics to solve
the problems or see the problems until they start building one.

Edit: this news is from 2014.

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rkwasny
Lockheed Martin aims to develop compact reactor prototype in five years,
production unit in 10 [2014] [https://aviationweek.com/technology/skunk-works-
reveals-comp...](https://aviationweek.com/technology/skunk-works-reveals-
compact-fusion-reactor-details)

It's very easy to say something is 10 years out, what's hard is to have a
concrete plan how to deliver a significant improvement in 1-3 years.

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viggity
why work on minimizing the fusion reactor, when fusion reactors don't even
work to begin with ("work" meaning "produce more energy than they consume for
an indefinite amount of time").

Just nail fusion reactors and bam - energy too cheap to meter. We already have
a distribution network, who cares if they're large?

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hasperdi
Imagine if we can put fusion reactors in thing that can move like planes and
ships...

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rkwasny
Well, we don't have a single fusion reactor besides thermonuclear bomb.

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tropo
I think we might just barely be able to build a piston engine large enough to
make use of that. It would have cylinders capable of swallowing container
ships whole. You'd want at least 4 cylinders of course, maybe more. It'd be
something like a trillion-liter engine. The emissions control device and the
muffler would likewise be huge. The fuel injectors would need to toss the
thermonuclear bombs clear of the piston and valves and cylinder walls,
ensuring some distance between the fireball and anything that could be
damaged.

So yeah, there might be downsides, but I think this is actually a valid design
for a fusion reactor. We really could do this.

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hackily
I remember reading about this 5 years ago.

I wonder how far progress has gotten today?

