Machines all over the world are reaching fusion temperatures and extending our technological capabilities. The ITER experiment, when it starts up in the early 2020s, will embody those advances, achieving the long-awaited fusion burn – and place us just one step away from the ultimate goal of getting fusion power on the grid in an affordable manner.
但核聚变的潜力大到令人无法放弃的地步。事实上，近年来已经取得的进展——尽管在投资严重不足的情况下——依然证实了反对者的错误。世界各地的设备都已经达到核聚变的温度要求，拓展了我们的技术能力。21世纪20年代初ITER试验真正开始时将体现上述进步，实现我们期待已久的核聚变燃烧——届时我们距离将廉价核聚变电能并网的终极目标将只差一步。