Just because the semiconductor's productivity gains have been massive on a short term time horizon, does not mean that fusion research has been a waste, or that

Just because the semiconductor's productivity gains have been massive on a short term time horizon, does not mean that fusion research has been a waste, or that is not on track to "deliver". Fusion as a technology is a long term bet and requires much more capital expenditure, for little short term return, then even semi fabs (which are notorious capital sinks). Your mention of cost justification is ignoring the bigger picture that our economic system is setup to benefit public companies like Intel, and not grand research endeavors. As an exercise to the reader, imagine what organizations/companies would exist if the contemporary economic incentive structures were different.