And everyone of these scientists is voluntarily giving up the opportunity to move a basic working fusion reactor into the private sphere? They could make billions and become the next GE or Tesla.
If just one of them had a startup bone in his body, we would see a small fusion reactor startup making consistent progress that seems amazing. It's not happening.
A scientist or engineer who left a classified project to do the same thing in a startup would very quickly find themselves in prison. Once you gain access to classified information, it is very very easy to convict you of very many crimes.
It's a situation that is apparently very difficult to understand for many people. You work on a classified program and you understand the situation. Nobody goes off and decides to turn their classified knowledge into a business.
Unless your assange, snowden, goldamns sachs ceo turned regulator or retired military general gone into the private sphere or fbi agent turned security consultant or blackwater pmc agent.
I get the value of the myth, people instinctively acheive what they believe is doable. It's just a myth though.
If just one of them had a startup bone in his body, we would see a small fusion reactor startup making consistent progress that seems amazing. It's not happening.