National Ignition Facility: The Emperor of Laser Fusion Has No Clothes

For more information about the 400 MJ input, which we obtained from the lab and reported 16 months ago, please see this article.

Slide courtesy Jeffrey Friedberg, MIT

By Steven B. Krivit
Dec. 14, 2022

Look at the data. That’s what science is about.

A fusion device that loses 99% of the energy it consumes, after decades of experimental effort, and billions of dollars spent, does not provide evidence of a potential source of energy. Congress has been hoodwinked, again.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer: “astonishing scientific advance put us on the precipice of a future no longer reliant on fossil fuels but instead powered by new clean fusion energy.”

U.S. Senator Jack Reed: “promising breakthrough … help fuel a brighter clean energy future for the United States and humanity.”

U.S. Senator Alex Padilla: “monumental scientific breakthrough … a milestone for the future of clean energy.”

U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell: “this breakthrough … enable progress toward new ways to power our homes and offices in future decades.”

Moreover, a claimed energy solution that is dependent on a fuel (tritium) that does not exist in nature is not a viable energy source.  

NIF was never intended for energy research; only defense. Senator Pete Domenici warned members of Congress in 2005.

Senate Hearings, Committee on Appropriations, 2005