Scientists who strive toward achieving thermonuclear powerthe controlled fusion of hydrogenhave fooled themselves so many times that they are reluctant to claim success. But last week in Washington, Dr. James L. Tuck of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory told the Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy: "We are now prepared to stake our reputations that we have a thermonuclear reaction."
Many scientists in many laboratories have squeezed hot deuterium (heavy hydrogen) between powerful magnetic fields and got short bursts of neutrons which made them think that the deuterium was turning into helium and giving off hits of H-bomb energy. This would be something...