The National Ignition Facility is only one of a number of projects used by the DOD to ensure that their H bombs explode when they want them to. Fusion research is just a PR thing.
On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 11:16 PM, Eric Walker <eric.wal...@gmail.com> wrote: > It would be nice to see them all funded to the >> $50-100 million level for a few years to see if one or more of them >> looks promising enough to carry on with >> 1/ Field Reversed Configuration - eg Helion Energy, Tri Alpha >> 2/ Electrostatic Confinement - eg Polywell/EMC2 >> 3/ Magnetised Target Fusion - eg General Fusion >> 4/ Levitated Dipole - eg MIT LDX >> 5/ Focus fusion - LPPX >> > > I won't argue that large investments in research aren't needed in order to > improve the world's energy security over the long run. But I'm beginning > to think the large numbers you see in connection with some projects are > evidence of something in the system that's failing. Does it make sense to > invest 3.4 billion dollars to create the National Ignition Facility in > order to carry out basic fusion research? Maybe. Maybe, though, > restrictions on funding are actually a blessing. Assuming LENR will be > recognized and commercialized at some point in the medium term, I think the > relative cost of the two research programs will present an object lesson in > what can be done on a tight budget. > > It doesn't seem like starving projects of funding is a good way to go; it > just seems like the grand-project approach may not be all that efficient a > way to advance science, either. > > Eric > >
