Is It Time For the US Government To Back Fusion At NIF Over ITER?

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday March 20, 2012 @07:12AM from the come-on-now,-you're-both-pretty dept.

ananyo writes "Laser beams at the National Ignition Facility have fired a record 1.875 megajoule shot into its target chamber, surpassing their design specification. The achievement is a milepost on the way to ignition — the 'break-even' point at which the facility will finally be able to release more energy than goes into the laser shot by imploding a target pellet of hydrogen isotopes. NIF's managers think the end of their two-year campaign for break-even energy is in sight and say they should achieve ignition before the end of 2012. However, with scientists at NIF saying that a $4 billion pilot plant could be putting hundreds of megawatts into the grid by the early 2020s, some question whether the Department of Energy is backing the wrong horse with ITER — a $21-billion international fusion experiment under construction at St-Paul-lez-Durance, France. Is it time for the DoE to switch priorities and back NIF's proposals?" Perhaps a better idea, given the potential benefits of fusion research, would be for the DoE to throw their weight behind multiple projects, rather than sacrificing some to support others.

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At the risk of sounding patriotic. by baudilus · 2012-03-20 07:27 · Score: 0, Flamebait

I think the DoE should reward homegrown projects first, and all things being equal, a domestic project should get priority on funding.

America didn't become a superpower by international collaboration; it did so out of invention and innovation, and a sense of patriotic duty.

On a very basic level, I'd like to know just how many jobs are going overseas because of our government's international investments as opposed to the good that funding can do right here on our soil.

How much international funding did Fermilab get when it was initially built?
Re:Theft by Serious+Callers+Only · 2012-03-20 08:54 · Score: 1, Flamebait

Please stop using the little science project called the Internet, stop using electricity, take off any of your clothes which contain polyester and go live in a field, as modern civilisation would not exist if cretins like you were allowed to veto massive infrastructure investment like this as 'a little science project' and it is the logical conclusion of your happy ignorance.
kthxbye