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Super expensive nuclear fusion project cancelled

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MIT to cut nuclear fusion program, Boston Business Journal, 20 May 13,   A program that explores nuclear fusion at the Massachusetts Institute of Technologyis shutting down, after its U.S. funding was cut….. it will leave only two fusion experiments in the U.S. – one at Princeton University, the other at General Atomics, a San Diego firm, according to the Globe. Nuclear fusion is seen as a potential clean alternative to nuclear fission, which is used in today’s nuclear reactors. http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/mass_roundup/2013/05/mit-to-cut-nuclear-fusion-program.html

May 21, 2013 - Posted by | technology, USA

2 Comments »

  1. Nuclear fusion produces only non-radioactive helium (the same material used to fill Blimps and children’s party balloons) as its nuclear waste. The MIT Alcator C-MOD experiment is unusually cost effective and well administered. This untimely budget action would rob the US domestic fusion program of a unique and essential resource critical to harnessing fusion as a practical energy source. Maintaining funding for C-Mod operations would cost only ~$15Million dollars.

    Impact on jobs: Alcator supports 300 US jobs, mostly in Massachusetts.

    So what is actually happening that causes the shut down of valuable clean fusion experiments like Alcator C-MOD?

    US fusion in budget vice –
    Domestic facilities struggle for survival as funding is directed to international reactor.
    http://www.nature.com/news/us-fusion-in-budget-vice-1.11061

    Robert Steinhaus's avatar Comment by Robert Steinhaus | May 23, 2013 | Reply

  2. I don’t know what is happening. But my guess is that the whole nuclear fusion thing, if it ever comes about, will be hugely expensive to set up. ( It might be cheap to run, though). And sure, we would all like to have such a truly clean source of energy.
    So I am thinking that for once in history, nations might be co-operating, instead of each duplicating the other’s efforts. That would be a saner way to develop nuclear fusion.

    A new technology shouldn’t be just some kind of status symbol for a country – or even to provide jobs. More jobs would be provided by getting on with renewable energy systems – technologies that already exist.

    Anyway, – as far as I can see, nuclear fusion is still but a gleam in the eye of the nuclear lobby – something to greenwash the public into thinking that the nuclear industry has a future

    Christina Macpherson's avatar Comment by Christina MacPherson | May 23, 2013 | Reply


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