Latest catch up on NIF
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 10:57 am
The major science journals had it first a year ago. The popular science media had it just after the new year and now the "lame stream" media has finally signed on with a story about how NIF ain't in the power fusion biz any more and dares to posit that maybe fusion isn't worth it. They further posit that with all the greenie-weenie energy sources that are magically appearing to power our future needs, why dump more bread into the fusion effort? In effect, they are admitting that tens of billions over the last half century is lost money.
Yet, as we all know and can prove, fusion is easy to implement and rather inexpensively, too. Making it pay is impossible, witness many years and billions spent in a giant "make busy", expensive effort.
NBC also notes that congressional budget concerns have made fusion appear far less pretty. The U.S. contribution to ITER is under review.
Is the house of thermal fusion falling apart like cold fusion? Junk science or real, cold or hot, fusion is taking it on the chin just now. The "Real soon now" of the 80's and 90's was replaced a few years back with a 30 to 40 year off "hope" and now it looks more like, "whatever....whenever".....
Fusion?...What's that? Is this the end of big fusion? Sure looks like it to this casual observer. If ITER blows it at 30 billion, the fusion death rattle is all that's left.
Paraphrasing one of my favorite yogi-isms. Fusion may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long.
Richard Hull
Yet, as we all know and can prove, fusion is easy to implement and rather inexpensively, too. Making it pay is impossible, witness many years and billions spent in a giant "make busy", expensive effort.
NBC also notes that congressional budget concerns have made fusion appear far less pretty. The U.S. contribution to ITER is under review.
Is the house of thermal fusion falling apart like cold fusion? Junk science or real, cold or hot, fusion is taking it on the chin just now. The "Real soon now" of the 80's and 90's was replaced a few years back with a 30 to 40 year off "hope" and now it looks more like, "whatever....whenever".....
Fusion?...What's that? Is this the end of big fusion? Sure looks like it to this casual observer. If ITER blows it at 30 billion, the fusion death rattle is all that's left.
Paraphrasing one of my favorite yogi-isms. Fusion may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long.
Richard Hull