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Fusion Science and Technology
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On moving fast and breaking things
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
So much of what is happening in federal nuclear policy these days seems driven by a common approach popularized in the technology sector. Silicon Valley calls it “move fast and break things,” a phrase originally associated with Facebook’s early culture under Mark Zuckerberg. The idea emerged in the early 2000s as software companies discovered that rapid iteration, frequent experimentation, and a willingness to tolerate failure could dramatically accelerate innovation. This philosophy helped drive the growth of the social media, smartphones, cloud computing, and digital platforms that now underpin modern economic and social life.
Today, that mindset is also influencing federal nuclear policy. The Trump administration views accelerated nuclear deployment as part of a broader competition with China for technological and AI leadership. In that context, it seems willing to accept greater operational risk in pursuit of strategic advantage and long-term economic and security objectives.
Masayuki Yoshikawa, Kalsunori Ikeda, Yuuji Okamoto, Eiichiro Kawamori, Shinji Kobayashi, Yousuke Nakashima, Atsushi Mase, Teruji Cho, Naohiro Yamaguchi, Teruo Tamano, Kiyoshi Yatsu
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 35 | Number 1 | January 1999 | Pages 273-277
Oral Presentations | doi.org/10.13182/FST99-A11963866
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We have constructed a 2-dimensional Hα line-emission measurement system in order to study neutral hydrogen behavior. We can obtain 2-dimensional radial profiles of hydrogen density by considering a collisional-radiative model. We have also constructed space- and time-resolving spectrograph system in the range of vacuum ultraviolet (VUV). 15–105 nm. studying ion density profiles which directly relates to impurity transport. We measure both Hα line-emissions and VUV spectra from the hot ion mode plasmas in the GAMMA 10 for studying plasma particle confinement and impurity behavior. We found that both particle and energy confinement of the GAMMA 10 plasma was slightly improved during electron cyclotron resonant heating (ECRH) over that without ECRH. From the VUV measurement it is concluded that the impurity ions mainly came into the plasma during its formation phase.
