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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.
William J. Hogan
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 599-607
Overview | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29412
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Recent NAS and FPAC reviews of the ICF Program contain recommendations that, if implemented, will greatly impact the ICF Program. Target physics studies and experiments have indicated that ignition and gain may be achieved with 1.5 to 2.0 MJ of driver energy. It has, therefore, been recommended that the Nova facility be upgraded to this energy and undertake ignition experiments by the end of the decade. A specific set of target physics, driver development, and target fabrication milestones have been recommended leading to this facility and to the ignition experiments. Similar recommendations were made concerning the OMEGA Upgrade, the Nike laser, heavy ion reactor driver development and IFE reactor technology. Carrying out these recommendations successfully would lead to major ICF decisions about an LMF for military applications and an ETF for energy applications about the year 2000.
