Practical Fusion Power?

Reuters reports via the Yahoo News site that Lockheed Martin has made a bombshell announcement. If it turns out to be valid, and it's hard to imagine they'd go public before they are sure, this could be the most important technological development of the last century.

Lockheed Martin Corp said on Wednesday it had made a technological breakthrough in developing a power source based on nuclear fusion, and the first reactors, small enough to fit on the back of a truck, could be ready for use in a decade.

In a statement, the company, the Pentagon's largest supplier, said it would build and test a compact fusion reactor in less than a year, and build a prototype in five years.

As you might guess, it was the creative types at Lockheed's famous Skunk Works who made the breakthroughs. If this proves out, it is an enormous embarrassment to government researchers in various DOE labs around the country who've been laboring fruitlessly for decades to achieve this result.

I will admit to you I am hesitant to believe this announcement, simply because we've been disappointed several times in the past. I remember the "cold fusion" boomlet that amounted to nothing. Hat tip to Richard Fernandez at PJ Media for the link.