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> "the controversial ITER project, a hugely expensive fusion reactor..." I heard from many insiders that ITER is a highly politicized project which has too man
by sprash 8y ago
> "the controversial ITER project, a hugely expensive fusion reactor..."
I heard from many insiders that ITER is a highly politicized project which has too many parties involved and therefore has exploding high costs with rather limited scientific output.
A counter example is Wendelstein-7X which breaks new records every month.
The reason for this disparity is that Fusion nowadays is a pure engineering problem not a science problem and should be managed accordingly.
- whatshisface 8y agoThat sounds like the space shuttle. >Fusion nowadays is a pure engineering problem not a science problem Governments aren't any better at engineering programs, in fact they may even be worse.
- godelski 8y agoITER is controversial mostly because scientists don't agree that it is necessary. THOUGH almost everyone thinks it will show fusion is possible. But it is a research reactor. The controversy is that scientists think we can do it smaller and cheaper, much closer to what a power reactor would look like. But also remember that scientists quarreling is different than how most people argue. It is over minutia.