Lockheed Martin is building a compact nuclear fusion reactor that might yet solve the world's insatiable hunger for cheap but abundant power.

Some reports say the reactor made by the company's secretive Skunk Works division might change civilization as we know it.

The key feature of the new Compact Fusion Reactor is its compactness. The new reactor is 10 times smaller than current reactors but is capable of generating the same energy output.

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Skunk Works said its system, which will be the size of a jet engine, will power everything from spacecraft to warships to power stations. The first reactors will be small enough to fit on the back of a truck and will be ready in about a decade.

Tom McGuire, head of the fusion energy project, said his team at Skunk Works has been working on the reactor for about four years.

The key to Skunk Works' fusion reactor is its tube-like design entirely different from the massive classic fusion reactor designs.

Skunk Works said it can build a 100 megawatt reactor that measures only 7 feet x 10 feet.

It believes this project is part of a comprehensive approach to solving energy and climate change problems.

Fusion energy produces less waste than coal-powered plants, and lacks the negative effects inherent to nuclear reactors.

In 10 years' time, Skunk Works will be able to build a small operational reactor capable of powering a Navy warship. 

TagsLockheed Martin, Fusion energy, Tom McGuire, Skunk Works