Tate Medal for International Leadership in Physics Talk: Nuclear Fusion Power: Are we really serious about our future?

There's a frantic search under way for new energy sources that do not damage global climate. In the public discussion of this subject, nuclear fusion is hardly ever mentioned. Yet nuclear fusion is the answer to the problem. It's the best way to generate large amounts of baseload power, needed in the intermediate and far future. The long-standing joke about fusion always being ``just 50 years away'' illustrates the unfavourable attitude most people have towards fusion technology, and while this is understandable in the light of fusion's history, it is unwarranted. We need a strong international effort to develop this energy source to help avoid climate change turning into global disaster.