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BRITAIN'S SPUTNIK
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A history of Britain's attempts at nuclear fusion |
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“To Britain – a Sun is Born”, “H-power everlasting”, “A triumph as great as the Russian Sputnik” … just some of the headlines to greet the announcement of the ZETA nuclear fusion experiment 50 years ago.
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ZETA scientists, Bas Pease (centre) and
Bob Carruthers interviewed by the BBC |
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In the depths of the cold war, just months after Russia’s Sputnik had stunned the world, a team of British scientists working in secret in a nuclear laboratory near Oxford had appeared to have made an advance just as stunning, the taming of the power of the Sun and the hydrogen bomb, that would allow us to make energy that would last for ever.
Why was the reception to the announcement so over-the-top? And why was the rebound so bitter – when the truth of the experiment became clear?
The BBC’s Roland Pease, whose father worked on project ZETA, looks back at the stellar birth of fusion research, and its long, slow path to maturity.
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RELATED LINKS |
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Fusion Power
UKAEA
ITER
BBC Science & Nature
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