I may have mentioned before that I have this photo as my computer desktop background. It shows Alvin Weinberg in 1967 noting on a chart recorder “6000 hours” of full power output from the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment at Oak Ridge National Lab. Weinberg was the director of the lab at the time.
I was in diapers when the photo was taken. The reactor operated at 10WM (thermal) and ran for an equivalent of 11,555 hours (full power) hours, according to Wikipedia.
I no longer use diapers, but where did this technology go? Nowhere! I should ask ChatGPT the question and make a post of it here.
Here is a photo of the MSRE heat exchanger, glowing red hot from the heat produced by the reactor. The experiment did not include energy conversion equipment (turbine, generator, etc.) because that needed no development. The heat was dumped to the atmosphere with a cooling tower.
Compare MSRE to this ridiculous announcement made by the DOE in last year’s press release. (Which I have written about before)
I’m going to go through each quote from the head girls, et al. and translate it with my new AI, “BrianGPT”.
First of all, I think it is fun to mock these mediocrities in high places. Individually, I wish them, happiness, prosperity, and a long life as school crossing guards and lemonade stand CEOs. They don’t belong in the DOE and the DOE doesn’t belong in the US. It’s an extra-constitutional failure.
But enough ranting, lets get right to the AI translations, from BrianGPT.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm:
“This is a landmark achievement for the researchers and staff at the National Ignition Facility who have dedicated their careers to seeing fusion ignition become a reality, and this milestone will undoubtedly spark even more discovery. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to supporting our world-class scientists—like the team at NIF—whose work will help us solve humanity’s most complex and pressing problems, like providing clean power to combat climate change and maintaining a nuclear deterrent without nuclear testing.”
BrianGPT translation:
“NIF researchers and staff have spent their careers for this chispita (Spanish for little spark). They pray they will discover something actually remarkable before they start collecting on their federal pensions. The Biden-Harris Maladministration is committed to support more mediocrities, like these diversity hires, who will never solve a complex and pressing human problem.
Dr. Arati Prabhakar, the President’s Chief Advisor for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy:
“We have had a theoretical understanding of fusion for over a century, but the journey from knowing to doing can be long and arduous. Today’s milestone shows what we can do with perseverance,”
BrianGPT translation:
“Please send more money so we can persevere for another 50 years.”
NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby:
“Monday, December 5, 2022, was a historic day in science thanks to the incredible people at Livermore Lab and the National Ignition Facility. In making this breakthrough, they have opened a new chapter in NNSA’s Stockpile Stewardship Program. I would like to thank the members of Congress who have supported the National Ignition Facility because their belief in the promise of visionary science has been critical for our mission. Our team from around the DOE national laboratories and our international partners have shown us the power of collaboration.”
BrianGPT translation:
“Our team from around the DOE national laboratories and our international partners have shown us the power of collaboration in grifting for 6 decades. That is truly a milestone.”
LLNL Director Dr. Kim Budi:
“The pursuit of fusion ignition in the laboratory is one of the most significant scientific challenges ever tackled by humanity, and achieving it is a triumph of science, engineering, and most of all, people. Crossing this threshold is the vision that has driven 60 years of dedicated pursuit—a continual process of learning, building, expanding knowledge and capability, and then finding ways to overcome the new challenges that emerged. These are the problems that the U.S. national laboratories were created to solve.”
BrianGPT translation:
“The pursuit of fusion ignition in the laboratory is one of the most stupid scientific challenges ever tackled by federal scientists, and achieving it is a triumph of science, engineering, and most of all, people, especially high schoolers. Six more decades of grifting is what the U.S. national laboratores were created to do.”
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer:
“This astonishing scientific advance puts us on the precipice of a future no longer reliant on fossil fuels but instead powered by new clean fusion energy. I commend Lawrence Livermore National Labs and its partners in our nation’s Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) program, including the University of Rochester’s Lab for Laser Energetics in New York, for achieving this breakthrough. Making this future clean energy world a reality will require our physicists, innovative workers, and brightest minds at our DOE-funded institutions, including the Rochester Laser Lab, to double down on their cutting-edge work. That’s why I’m also proud to announce today that I’ve helped to secure the highest ever authorization of over $624 million this year in the National Defense Authorization Act for the ICF program to build on this amazing breakthrough.”
BrianGPT translation:
“This underwhelming scientific advance gets us no closer to a future no longer reliant on fossil fuels but instead powered by new clean fusion energy. I commend the overpaid mediocrities at LLNL and will now put a plug in for my own backyard grifters at the University of Rochester’s Lab for Laser Energetics in New York. They will share in the grifting with the highest ever authorization of over $624 million this year in the National Defense Authorization Act for the ICF program.”
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA) (now deceased):
“After more than a decade of scientific and technical innovation, I congratulate the team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the National Ignition Facility for their historic accomplishment. This is an exciting step in fusion and everyone at Lawrence Livermore and NIF should be proud of this milestone achievement.”
BrianGPT translation:
“After more than a decade of grifting innovation, I congratulate the team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the National Ignition Facility for their much hyped accomplishment. This is an exciting step in fusion grifting and everyone at Lawrence Livermore and NIF should be proud of this milestone achievement.”
U.S. Senator Jack Reed (RI
“This is an historic, innovative achievement that builds on the contributions of generations of Livermore scientists. Today, our nation stands on their collective shoulders. We still have a long way to go, but this is a critical step and I commend the U.S. Department of Energy and all who contributed toward this promising breakthrough, which could help fuel a brighter clean energy future for the United States and humanity.”
BrianGPT translation:
“Since everyone is overusing the word historic, I will too. This historic, insignificant achievement builds on the contributions of generations of grifting Livermore scientists. Today, our nation stands on their collective grifting. We still have a long way to go, but this is a critical step and I commend the U.S. Department of Energy and all who contributed toward this promising grift breakthrough, which coulda woulda shoulda help fuel a brighter clean energy future for the United States and humanity.”
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (CA).
“This monumental scientific breakthrough is a milestone for the future of clean energy. While there is more work ahead to harness the potential of fusion energy, I am proud that California scientists continue to lead the way in developing clean energy technologies. I congratulate the scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for their dedication to a clean energy future, and I am committed to ensuring they have all of the tools and funding they need to continue this important work.”
BrianGPT translation:
“This monumental financial breakthrough is a milestone for the future of grift. While there is 50 or 60 more years ahead to harness the potential of fusion energy, I am proud that California grifters continue to lead the way in developing grifting technologies. I just wish they were as adept a grifting as Zelenskyy. I congratulate the scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for their dedication to grift, and I am committed to ensuring they have all of the tools and funding aka grift they need to continue this important grift.”
U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren (CA-19
“This is a very big deal. We can celebrate another performance record by the National Ignition Facility. This latest achievement is particularly remarkable because NIF used a less spherically symmetrical target than in the August 2021 experiment. This significant advancement showcases the future possibilities for the commercialization of fusion energy. Congress and the Administration need to fully fund and properly implement the fusion research provisions in the recent CHIPS and Science Act and likely more. During World War II, we crafted the Manhattan Project for a timely result. The challenges facing the world today are even greater than at that time. We must double down and accelerate the research to explore new pathways for the clean, limitless energy that fusion promises.”
BrianGPT translation:
“This is a very big deal, just like the Star Wars character, Finn, played by John Boyega. The grifting achievement is particularly remarkable because NIF used a less spherically symmetrical grifting target than in the August 2021 grifting experiment. This grifting advancement showcases the future possibilities for the grifting of fusion energy. Congress and the Administration need to fully fund and properly implement the grifting fusion research provisions in the recent CHIPS and Science Act and likely more grifting. During World War II, others crafted the Manhattan Project for a timely bomb. The challenges facing the world today are even greater than at that time. We must double down on the grift and accelerate the grifting to explore new pathways for the clean, limitless grifting that fusion promises.”
U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (CA-15)
“I am thrilled that NIF—the United States’ most cutting-edge nuclear research facility—has achieved fusion ignition, potentially providing for a new clean and sustainable energy source in the future. This breakthrough will ensure the safety and reliability of our nuclear stockpile, open new frontiers in science, and enable progress toward new ways to power our homes and offices in future decades. I commend the scientists and researchers for their hard work and dedication that led to this monumental scientific achievement, and I will continue to push for robust funding for NIF to support advancements in fusion research.”
BrianGPT translation:
“Bang Bang Fang Fang.”
DOE News Release:
Fusion is the process by which two light nuclei combine to form a single heavier nucleus, releasing a large amount of energy. In the 1960s, a group of pioneering scientists at LLNL hypothesized that lasers could be used to induce fusion in a laboratory setting. Led by physicist John Nuckolls, who later served as LLNL director from 1988 to 1994, this revolutionary idea became inertial confinement fusion, kicking off more than 60 years of research and development in lasers, optics, diagnostics, target fabrication, computer modeling and simulation, and experimental design.
To pursue this concept, LLNL built a series of increasingly powerful laser systems, leading to the creation of NIF, the world’s largest and most energetic laser system. NIF—located at LLNL in Livermore, Calif.—is the size of a sports stadium and uses powerful laser beams to create temperatures and pressures like those in the cores of stars and giant planets, and inside exploding nuclear weapons.
Achieving ignition was made possible by dedication from LLNL employees as well as countless collaborators at DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Nevada National Security Site; General Atomics; academic institutions, including the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California, Berkeley, and Princeton University; international partners, including the United Kingdom’s Atomic Weapons Establishment and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission; and stakeholders at DOE and NNSA and in Congress.
BrianGPT translation:
Fusion is the process by which two light nuclei combine to form a single heavier nucleus, releasing a large amount of energy. In the 1960s, a group of grifting scientists at LLNL hypothesized that lasers could be used to induce fusion in a laboratory grifting setting. Led by physicist John Nuckolls, who later served as LLNL director from 1988 to 1994, this revolutionary idea became inertial confinement fusion, kicking off more than 60 years of grifting development in lasers, optics, diagnostics, target fabrication, computer modeling and simulation, and experimental design.
To pursue this grift, LLNL built a series of increasingly powerful laser systems, leading to the creation of NIF, the world’s largest and most energetic laser grifting system. NIF—located at LLNL in Livermore, Calif.—is the size of a sports stadium and uses powerful laser beams to create temperatures and pressures like those in the cores of stars and giant planets, and inside exploding nuclear weapons because science.
Achieving grift was made possible by dedication from LLNL grifters as well as countless collaborators, including sister gifters at DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Nevada National Security Site; General Atomics; academic institutions, including the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California, Berkeley, and Princeton University; international partners, including the United Kingdom’s Atomic Weapons Establishment and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission; and stakeholders at DOE and NNSA and in Congress.
Ok, this is getting old. Here’s my beef. Sixty years ago, Weinberg and his scientists at Oak Ridge invented and demonstrated an energy source that is everything fusion claims to be; clean and cheap. If a mere fraction of the time and money that has been wasted on the NIF had been spent on the engineering and commercialization of molten salt reactor technology, we would have clean and cheap power now. Instead we have a chispita and lots of word salad.