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Commentary
Nature 407, 129-130 (14 September 2000) | doi:10.1038/35025288
When peer review fails
Stephen Bodner1 & Christopher Paine2
- Stephen Bodner retired in 1999 as head of the laser fusion programme at the US Naval Research Laboratory (e-mail: Email: a-s.bodner@mindspring. com).
- Christopher Paine is a senior researcher in the nuclear programme at the Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, DC 20005, USA (e-mail: Email: chrispaine@earthlink.net ).
Given the numerous upbeat external reviews garnered over the years by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's laser fusion project, the National Ignition Facility (NIF), its current problems (see box) may come as a surprise (see Nature 405, 110; 2000). But the reluctance of the US Department of Energy (DoE) and the Livermore laboratory to acknowledge and systematically explore underlying science and technology issues through independent peer review is an obvious contributor to the project's difficulties.
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