[ExI] Lockheed skunkworks announcement about fusion

[BillK]

On Fri, Oct 17, 2014 at 3:11 AM, spike wrote:
> Could it be a misunderstanding by a news copy editor?  Perhaps what Dr.
> McGuire really meant is that this is analogous to a reactor core which he
> thinks can be operated to emit heat at 100MW, and that reactor can be hauled
> around on a truck.  To use it, you need to immerse that core in water inside
> a sturdy pressure vessel and use the resultant steam to run turbines and
> reject the heat with one of those proletariat-terrifying hourglass-shaped
> cooling towers at a traditional power plant like the one Mr. Burns owns on
> the Simpsons.  That I suppose is vaguely believable, and I hope that is what
> he meant.  Perhaps the news guy wrote the article to make it sound like a
> truck can roll up with enormous plug-ins with enough capacity to power a
> typical American city of about 20k population.
>
>

There is a much more detailed article in Aviation Week.
<http://aviationweek.com/technology/skunk-works-reveals-compact-fusion-reactor-details>

But it will be five years before they might have a working prototype
and ten years for a production version.   IF it all works out with no
show stoppers.

It sounds as though they are still in the early stages. All the
publicity seems intended to attract backers and investors.

BillK