US cuts
The current US science budget cuts were already mentioned in this previous post. What one can eventually do about it was mentioned in this post (namely initiate something like an international science parliament) (see also followup comment to Bee’s comment). Meanwhile more details about the consequences of the US budget cuts became apparent, in particular it seems that the US won’t pay their this-year-share of 160 mio $ to the international ITER project (which is an international nuclear fusion research project) – despite having apparently signed this treaty. Unfortunately that makes these rather unplaisant prospectives of nuclear fission in the US even more likely.
update 13.9. 09:
Whereas US officials meanswhile seem to have changed their policy towards the european ITER project (-> read e.g. U.S. ITER chief: ‘I’m excited to have some money’) they also seem to get interested in other nuclear fusion technologies, in particular it seems they just recently awarded EMC2 – Energy Matter Conversion Corp., Santa Fe, New Mexico with a $7,855,504 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research, analysis, development, and testing in support of the Plan Plasma Fusion Project.
Whereas US officials meanswhile seem to have changed their policy towards the european ITER project (-> read e.g. U.S. ITER chief: ‘I’m excited to have some money’) they also seem to get interested in other nuclear fusion technologies, in particular it seems they just recently awarded EMC2 – Energy Matter Conversion Corp., Santa Fe, New Mexico with a $7,855,504 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research, analysis, development, and testing in support of the Plan Plasma Fusion Project.
-> related randform post: Plasma Bubbles Again
September 13th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
note: supplement made on 13.9.09