Holy shit.
This means several BIG THINGS.
The biggest one of all - Energy Independence now looks like it can truly happen at long last.
Next: The Nuclear Navy is back! And this time better than ever with fusion powered Destroyers and Frigates!
Finally: this takes us one critical step closer to interstellar travel.
I am amazed at the claim that they're making - 100MW from a reactor that is small enough to fit on the back of a truck? If this scales well, then 1GW should be no problem, and in a package that would be smaller than today's 1GW fission reactors. Also, if you can scale it down then a viable commercial option for cargo ships could be viable, too! Really, all a container ship would need if they went for full-electrical power is just a few 10-kilowatts, right?
Also, you could easily fit two of these on a Destroyer. Replace the bulky gas turbine engines and reduction gears with a high-torque-low-rev-direct-drive motor... Get rid of all the fuel-oil service equipment... wow, that would cut out a lot of equipment!
And future space exploration... we would have power without worrying about damaging delicate solar cells with space debris. Cooling is still a bit of an issue, though, until we effectively figure out how to recycle waste heat (and that would probably be an even bigger holy shit discovery). Oh, and effective reactionless drives can be a thing, too. The words 'Kzinti Lesson' come to mind.
This means several BIG THINGS.
The biggest one of all - Energy Independence now looks like it can truly happen at long last.
Next: The Nuclear Navy is back! And this time better than ever with fusion powered Destroyers and Frigates!
Finally: this takes us one critical step closer to interstellar travel.
I am amazed at the claim that they're making - 100MW from a reactor that is small enough to fit on the back of a truck? If this scales well, then 1GW should be no problem, and in a package that would be smaller than today's 1GW fission reactors. Also, if you can scale it down then a viable commercial option for cargo ships could be viable, too! Really, all a container ship would need if they went for full-electrical power is just a few 10-kilowatts, right?
Also, you could easily fit two of these on a Destroyer. Replace the bulky gas turbine engines and reduction gears with a high-torque-low-rev-direct-drive motor... Get rid of all the fuel-oil service equipment... wow, that would cut out a lot of equipment!
And future space exploration... we would have power without worrying about damaging delicate solar cells with space debris. Cooling is still a bit of an issue, though, until we effectively figure out how to recycle waste heat (and that would probably be an even bigger holy shit discovery). Oh, and effective reactionless drives can be a thing, too. The words 'Kzinti Lesson' come to mind.