![](https://thegoatery.dyndns.org/photo/profile/goatsarah.jpeg?ts=1683131929)
![](https://fry.gs/pictrs/image/c6832070-8625-4688-b9e5-5d519541e092.png)
@Uranium_Green those are literally fusion bombs.
But there is a test ban treaty in place, and has been for some time.
NIF provides plausible deniability to study fusion ignition without setting off actual nuclear weapons. This is what it’s always been about. It isn’t power plant research, and never has been.
@Funkytom467 no, JET was doing power plant research.
NIF is studying detonation of fusion explosions. The only other way to do this is to set off a thermonuclear bomb, which the US has signed international treaties promising not to do, and which is trivially easily detected from the other side of the world.