Fusion, Politics, and the Press
It's an old joke by now: fusion is the energy source of the future... and it always will be. As early as 1955, scientists were predicting that a fusion powerplant was 20 years away. More than half a century later, scientists are still saying that a demonstration fusion reactor is a few decades in the future.
In this talk, I will attempt to explain how the complex relationships among plasma physicists, reporters, and lawmakers have damaged the quest for fusion energy -- undermining a line of research that was once (and still should be) a source of national prestige, and causing it to be overshadowed it by phony claims and false promises.
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