A team of researchers at Lockheed Martin Corp. have made a huge breakthrough in nuclear fusion and are looking for partners to fully realize the technology’s potential.
The company said Wednesday that it will create a compact fusion reactor for testing in less than a year and finish a prototype within five years, Reuters reported. The announcement comes after four years of secretive research by its Skunk Works team.
“A next-generation airplane that doesn’t rely on fuel and can just stay aloft — unlimited range, unlimited endurance — that’s what nuclear fusion can do for an airplane,” Tom McGuire, who heads the project, said in a YouTube video released Wednesday by Lockheed.
Mr. McGuire added that the company’s 100-megawatt reactor would be able to fit on the back of a large truck.
The global security and aerospace company said that compact nuclear fusion running on deuterium-tritium fuel would produce produce roughly 10 million times more energy than the same amount of fossil fuels, Reuters reported.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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