Lockheed Fusion Reactor Lacks Data and Money

Jan. 29, 2015 – By Steven B. Krivit –

Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works group created widespread publicity in October 2014 with its claim that it would be delivering a working prototype of a fusion reactor within five years. It also created a wave of enthusiasm and excitement among science and technology enthusiasts.

For 60 years, scientists have been attempting to harness controlled nuclear fusion on the Earth. Despite the expenditure of tens of billions of dollars and the dedication of massive international science and engineering efforts, no one has succeeded.

Among the dozens of experimental fusion reactors that have been built since the 1950s, not one has produced a single milliwatt of excess heat. Lockheed’s claims therefore, are surprising and call for careful analysis.

However, despite the public relations campaign, Lockheed Martin has no public data, no published paper and no prototype to share. On Dec. 23, 2014, New Energy Times sent the following questions to Geneva Greene and Heather Kelso in Lockheed Martin media relations.

1. Are your future projections (as promoted/described on your Web site) for the practical applications of the Compact Fusion Reactor based on experimental evidence, theoretical evidence, or both?
2. In your most successful experiment so far, what was the highest heat output in watts?
3. Was that heat value directly measured, or was it calculated based on measured neutron emission?
3. During that peak output, what was the total system (electrical or otherwise) power input in watts?
4. What was the duration of this peak heat output?

Kelso responded to New Energy Times the same day.

“Unfortunately our compact fusion spokesperson/subject matter expert is out the office until Jan. 5,” Kelso wrote. “The compact fusion team has proven they could design, build and test a reactor in one year because of its small size, and they project needing 10 iterations to become operational. Though, this is contingent on many factors, including continued financial support. Right now they’re in the midst of an experimental campaign and will be publishing results likely later in 2015.”

New Energy Times responded, on Dec. 23, 2014, with another question to Kelso and Greene. “What papers have been either published or accepted for publication in peer-reviewed journals?” On Jan. 14, 2015, Kelso responded.

“We have not released our quantitative data and do not have public releasable data to provide at this time,” Kelso wrote.