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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.
Nobuyuki Inoue
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 39 | Number 2 | March 2001 | Pages 293-297
Fusion Technology Plenary | doi.org/10.13182/FST01-A11963251
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Japanese fusion program emphasizes development of fusion as a candidate of an innovative future energy source, and the ITER project is regarded as the core program in the current strategy. Extensive program review is currently performed to make a decision on the next phase activity of ITER toward construction, and some committees are reporting the results of their assessment. Major decision will be made within a year. Fusion program is also important from the aspect of basic study of science, practical application of advanced technology, and education. Alternative confinement studies and broad range of fusion related technical activities are performed under the overall fusion policy in Japan. One of the highlight is the successful initial operation of superconducting helical device, LHD. Large tokamak JT-60 plan a major modification to equip superconducting magnets in near future. Technology development is focused on blanket research and material study. As a whole, Japanese program encompasses power reactor development through ITER, and contribution to the international society by its research activity on science and technology.