Europe puts France up for reactor (world's 1st fusion reactor will cost $5bil, revolutionize energy)

BBC News ^ | Wednesday, 26 November, 2003 | Dr David Whitehouse

[Two_Sheds]

America could be so far ahead in almost every area of science and technology that the rest of the world would need to hire scouts to see which way we went. But instead we are keeping just barely ahead. Got to wonder why. Maybe there is a good reason.

Your answer is right on this thread. The sniveling luddites who don't think it's worthwhile to spend money on what will be the greatest technoligical advancement in history because, well, we can't do it (no reason why, just that we can't).

[Poohbah]

The European Union has chosen France as its preferred location for a nuclear reactor

"Because everybody hates the (deleted) French, anyway, so we don't care if they have FLKs."

[Major_Risktaker]

It seriously ticks me off that the Greens have managed to kill reactor construction here, yet France can build as many as needed.

Maybe the oil companies discretely support the Greenies financially therefor keeping the needed for oil in place.

[CasearianDaoist]

Hey we are also ponying up a half a billion for the HLP at CERN.

[A. Pole]

This could be as revolutionary as Japan's 10 billion dollar fifth generation computer language that revolutionized data processing a decade ago.

"Today, France has 54 civilian nuclear energy plants, heavily supported by the state. They produce more than three-quarters of France's electricity and more than half of its total energy. France also exports close to $3 billion worth of its annual energy production to countries like Britain, Italy and Switzerland."
( http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/1999/02/F.RU.990222143820.html )

[Axenolith]

http://www.earthtech.org/experiments/fusor/bigsys3.html

If it's BS, it's expensive BS...

[greasepaint]

Everyone should keep in mind that the
total (not just the US's contribution)
cost is comparable to ten space shuttle flights.
The Physicists seem confident that this big
machine will have a 'power gain' (Q) of at least ten.
If that term means thermal-power out, divided by
beam power-in, that should be slightly above
'electrical' break even.