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The fight to save MIT's fusion reactor

The fight to save MIT's fusion reactor

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MIT prides itself on its experiments in nuclear fusion, centering on its Alcator-C reactor, but are the experiment's funders really getting their money's worth? As similar experiments go on at California's National Ignition Facility and Europe's ITER project, the federal government had planned to shift funding away from the MIT reactor, but a new Boston Globe report details the political struggle that kept the reactor running. Thanks to forceful lobbying by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and a wealthy Democratic Party donor, the White House reversed planned spending cuts and the facility stayed open.