I don’t disagree with your general point that there is a lot of waste fraud and abuse.
I have read about whole companies dedicated to feeding off federal research dollars— whose primary competency is their ability fill out the complicated applications for federal dollars...but whose actual output...is nothing to speak of.
I’ve read too that the best professors in the best universities spend much of their time applying for grants—so much so — that its usually their staff that does the actual work.
I don’t think that the fusion research and their researchers fall into any of these categories.
Its like that in any field. You have the real players, the up and coming, the wanna bes, the once weres, the never weres, the never will bes and the imposters.
imho the fusion researcher are the real players. You’re free to say only that only the thorium researchers are the real players. I think thorium researchers are real players too. If so, we probably agree that the light water reactors and the people who support them have gone past their sell by date. Its a shame most federal federal nuclear research dollars go to light water reactors. The light water smr’s set to come out after 2030 will be DOE dinasaurs in my opinion.
I don’t think that the current operating US big reactors should be shut down. That was a stupid move by the Germans. It would be a stupid move for the US.
I’m beginning to think that fusion is in your religion. I won’t try to disabuse you of it any more.