Editing Huemul Project (section)

==Private reaction==
Although essentially dismissed by the scientific community, the Richter announcement nevertheless had a major effect on the history of controlled fusion experiments.

The most direct outcome of the announcement was its effect on [[Lyman Spitzer]], an [[astrophysicist]] at [[Princeton University]]. Just prior to leaving for a ski trip to [[Aspen Mountain (ski area)|Aspen]], Spitzer's father called and mentioned the announcement in ''[[The New York Times]]''. Spitzer read the articles and dismissed them, noting the system could not deliver enough energy to heat the gases to fusion temperatures. This led him to begin considering ways to confine a hot plasma for longer periods of time, giving the system enough time to be heated to 10 to 100 million degrees Celsius. Considering the problem of confining a [[plasma (physics)|plasma]] in a toroid pointed out by [[Enrico Fermi]], he hit upon the solution now known as the [[stellarator]]. Spitzer was able to use the notoriety surrounding Richter's announcement to gain the attention of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission with the suggestion that the basic idea of controlled fusion was feasible. He eventually managed to arrange a meeting with the director of the AEC to pitch the stellarator concept.<ref>{{cite web |last=Greenwald |first=J. |date=23 October 2013 |title=Celebrating Lyman Spitzer, the father of PPPL and the Hubble Space Telescope |url=http://www.pppl.gov/news/2013/10/celebrating-lyman-spitzer-father-pppl-and-hubble-space-telescope |publisher=Princeton Plasma Physics Lab |access-date=15 June 2015 |archive-date=25 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425033914/http://www.pppl.gov/news/2013/10/celebrating-lyman-spitzer-father-pppl-and-hubble-space-telescope |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Researchers in the UK had been experimenting with fusion since 1947 using a system known today as [[z-pinch]]. Small experimental devices had been built at the [[Atomic Energy Research Establishment]] (AERE, "Harwell") and [[Imperial College London]], but requests for funding of a larger system were repeatedly refused. [[James L. Tuck|Jim Tuck]] had seen the work while in the UK, and introduced z-pinch to his coworkers at [[Los Alamos National Laboratory|Los Alamos]] in 1950.{{sfn|Herman|1990|p=41}} When Tuck heard of Spitzer's efforts to gain funding, he immediately applied as well, presenting his concept as the [[Perhapsatron]]. He felt that Spitzer's claims to have a fast track to fusion were "incredibly ambitious".{{sfn|Bromberg|1982|p=21}} Both Spitzer and Tuck met with AEC officials in May 1951; Spitzer was granted $50,000 to build an experimental device, while Tuck was turned away empty-handed. Not to be outdone, Tuck soon arranged to receive $50,000 from the director of Los Alamos instead.{{sfn|Phillips|1982|p=64}}

When news of the U.S. efforts reached the UK, the researchers there started pushing for funding of a much larger machine. This time they found a much more favorable reaction from the AERE, and both teams soon began construction of larger devices. This work, through fits and starts, led to the [[ZETA (fusion reactor)|ZETA]] system,{{sfn|Bromberg|1982|p=75}} the first truly large-scale fusion reactor. Compared to the small tabletop devices built in the U.S., ZETA filled a hangar and operated at energy levels far beyond any other machine. When news of ZETA was made public, the U.S. and Soviet Union were soon demanding funding to build devices of similar scale in order to catch up with the UK.

The announcement had a direct effect on research in the USSR as well. Previously, several researchers, notably [[Igor Kurchatov]] and I. N. Golovin had put together a development plan similar to the ones being developed in the UK. They too were facing disinterest on the part of the funding groups, which was immediately swept away when Huemul hit the newspapers.<ref>{{cite book |first=Robin |last=Herman |title=Fusion: The Search for Endless Energy |year=2006 |page=36 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521024952 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wec8bjrc5UoC&pg=PA36}}</ref>