Nuclear fusion no closer to a working model, but generating lots of spagghetti

I have always been, and I remain, skeptical about the dramatic claims made by nuclear fusion energy developers. From time to time, a glowing announcement appears in the news promising unlimited cheap energy just around the corner, merely because some company or other has managed to squeeze a little bit more energy out of a hot mess of plasma, usually neglecting to mention that they are still decades away (if ever) from making it cost-effective or sustainable.

The latest such announcement comes from BC company General Fusion Group Ltd. Accompanying the article is a photo of the inside of the General Fusion lab where the fusion beast is being tamed.

It's a scene of such disorder and messiness that it's hard to take seriously. There are huge knots of pipes and cables, random canisters and frames, all jammed into a small room It's certainly not the sleek, gleaming machinery of Star Trek, more like a Heath Robinson construction.

Now, of course, I know nothing about the subject, and this is clearly still early days in the research. Maybe eventually all that spaghetti will be hidden inside a neat brushed-steel box with multicoloured lights and switches and dials. But right now it has the look of a school science experiment, and does not inspire confidence.