US Fusion in Budget Vice
An article was just published in Nature detailing the ongoing budget struggles for the fusion energy industry. Research for fusion energy has been supported by several domestic institutions, as well as the ITER facility under construction in France, which is backed by the United States, the European Union and five other nations. However, the President’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2013 has slashed funding for domestic fusion research, while boosting funding for the ITER project. The funding cuts would damage fusion research currently underway, and would threaten the closure of the Alcator C-Mod lab at MIT. From the article:
For years, US researchers have been steadfast in their support of ITER, the world’s largest fusion-energy experiment, which is under construction near Cadarache, France. But with funding commitments to ITER now putting the squeeze on three existing facilities in the United States, enthusiasm for the international project is becoming as difficult to sustain as a fusion reaction.
To read the full article, click here.
