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Here is more on the tech, including a drawing: http://aviationweek.com/technology/skunk-works-reveals-compact-fusion-reactor-details http://aviationweek.com/tec

by flexie 12y ago

Here is more on the tech, including a drawing: http://aviationweek.com/technology/skunk-works-reveals-compact-fusion-reactor-details http://aviationweek.com/technology/skunk-works-reveals-compa...

tokenadult 12y ago
This article provides a lot more engineering information and other background and is well worth a thorough read. Thanks to flexie for finding and sharing the link.
sungeuns 12y ago
I was curious about detail when I saw the news, Thanks for sharing!
danmaz74 12y ago
Thanks, much, much better than the original article.
Estragon 12y ago
Seems premature to call this a breakthrough when they haven't even built a prototype yet.
- thrownaway2424 12y ago
  This is HN. If the hyperloop was a technological breakthrough, so is this press release.
  - TeMPOraL 12y ago
    Hyperloop case doesn't have 50 years of track record of being "just few years from now", and as far as I remember, the design was more-less feasible if only someone would get around to building it. It didn't have such hard problems to be solved as fusion still has.
    - jeffreyrogers 12y ago
      I think you could make the argument that fusion is more or less feasible if someone would just get around to building it too...
      - DubiousPusher 12y ago
        I don't believe this is the case. I'm pretty sure there have been "hard" limits so far on what can be achieved. I'm not a physicist, not even close but as I understand it two issues remain. One is that sustaining the fusion reaction has been problematic. I believe the longest sustained reactions have been less than one second. Two is that currently we have to put more energy into creating and sustaining the reaction than it yields. These two things make this categorically different than a challenge like building the hyperloop which as far as I know didn't have any unsolved science or engineering problems. Again, I could be wrong on my physics but as I understand it, fusion power is still a question of "is it even possible" whereas the hyperloop was more of a question about socioeconomic will.
        ufmace 12y ago
        One of the problems with creating longer-running fusion reactions is that if they do it, in order for the reactor to not wildly overheat almost instantly, they need a massive cooling system to carry the generated heat away. At that point, you almost might as well hook up a steam turbine loop and generator and put the power on the grid. There's lots of other problems too - I don't think they have a well-tested solution for adding fresh fuel and disposing of the fused products on an ongoing basis.
        mng2 12y ago
        JT-60 in Japan has done about half a minute, actually. There is less of an issue with sustaining reactions (since there has been steady progress over the years) than with coming up with materials that would stand up under a commercial fusion reactor's duty cycle. http://iopscience.iop.org/0029-5515/48/8/085002 http://iopscience.iop.org/0029-5515/48/8/085002
dkirtley 12y ago
This looks very similar to the old Russian Gas Dynamic Trap: https://e-reports-ext.llnl.gov/pdf/366958.pdf https://e-reports-ext.llnl.gov/pdf/366958.pdf RF and neutral beam heated steady reactor with very high mirror ratio and superconductors.
- joezydeco 12y ago
  What is the operating temperature of these superconducting magnets? I can't see how heat energy is supposed to be flowing out of that plasma envelope yet the magnets are supposed to stay at near-zero temps?

by flexie 12y ago

Here is more on the tech, including a drawing: http://aviationweek.com/technology/skunk-works-reveals-compact-fusion-reactor-details http://aviationweek.com/technology/skunk-works-reveals-compa...

tokenadult 12y ago

This article provides a lot more engineering information and other background and is well worth a thorough read. Thanks to flexie for finding and sharing the link.

sungeuns 12y ago

I was curious about detail when I saw the news, Thanks for sharing!

danmaz74 12y ago

Thanks, much, much better than the original article.

Estragon 12y ago

Seems premature to call this a breakthrough when they haven't even built a prototype yet.

thrownaway2424 12y ago
This is HN. If the hyperloop was a technological breakthrough, so is this press release.
- TeMPOraL 12y ago
  Hyperloop case doesn't have 50 years of track record of being "just few years from now", and as far as I remember, the design was more-less feasible if only someone would get around to building it. It didn't have such hard problems to be solved as fusion still has.
  - jeffreyrogers 12y ago
    I think you could make the argument that fusion is more or less feasible if someone would just get around to building it too...
    - DubiousPusher 12y ago
      I don't believe this is the case. I'm pretty sure there have been "hard" limits so far on what can be achieved. I'm not a physicist, not even close but as I understand it two issues remain. One is that sustaining the fusion reaction has been problematic. I believe the longest sustained reactions have been less than one second. Two is that currently we have to put more energy into creating and sustaining the reaction than it yields. These two things make this categorically different than a challenge like building the hyperloop which as far as I know didn't have any unsolved science or engineering problems. Again, I could be wrong on my physics but as I understand it, fusion power is still a question of "is it even possible" whereas the hyperloop was more of a question about socioeconomic will.
      - ufmace 12y ago
        One of the problems with creating longer-running fusion reactions is that if they do it, in order for the reactor to not wildly overheat almost instantly, they need a massive cooling system to carry the generated heat away. At that point, you almost might as well hook up a steam turbine loop and generator and put the power on the grid. There's lots of other problems too - I don't think they have a well-tested solution for adding fresh fuel and disposing of the fused products on an ongoing basis.
      - mng2 12y ago
        JT-60 in Japan has done about half a minute, actually. There is less of an issue with sustaining reactions (since there has been steady progress over the years) than with coming up with materials that would stand up under a commercial fusion reactor's duty cycle. http://iopscience.iop.org/0029-5515/48/8/085002 http://iopscience.iop.org/0029-5515/48/8/085002

dkirtley 12y ago

This looks very similar to the old Russian Gas Dynamic Trap: https://e-reports-ext.llnl.gov/pdf/366958.pdf https://e-reports-ext.llnl.gov/pdf/366958.pdf RF and neutral beam heated steady reactor with very high mirror ratio and superconductors.

joezydeco 12y ago
What is the operating temperature of these superconducting magnets? I can't see how heat energy is supposed to be flowing out of that plasma envelope yet the magnets are supposed to stay at near-zero temps?