Lockheed Martin Makes Waves with Compact Nuclear Fusion Technology

Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works division is developing a fusion reactor that is small enough to go on an airplane, yet powerful enough to power a warship or space station.  They are calling it the Compact Fusion Reactor, or the CFR. They believe they will test a CFR design in less than a year. If Lockheed Martin is successful, it will revolutionize the use of energy worldwide. Even if it remains expensive, it will still be small enough to power airplanes, space ships, trains, and other forms of transportation large enough to profit from an expensive unlimited power supply.  A reactor like this could allow for travel to other star systems or even allow us to easily colonize other planets (from an energy standpoint)

Two concerns that come to mind would be security against terrorism or preventing a Fukushima type situation in a natural disaster. Could you imagine if there was an earthquake and hundreds of these mini-reactors would melt down?  If Lockheed can include safeguards and the ability to shut it down on a moments notice or automatically, then there may be hope for civilian use. Others have brought up thorium reactors which are not dangerous at all. But the technology for thorium is not nearly as advanced as the Lockheed Fusion solution.

Here is the video talking about it from Lockheed Martin Skunk Works.