This is not a surprise—way late and way over budget. I think approaches like Helion’s [1] are a more viable approach. Their design is dramatically smaller at pilot plant scale. It’s radically simpler—short pulsed fusion reactions rather than trying to entrap, ignite, and sustain continuous fusion. Direct energy capture by magnetic field is brilliant IMO.
[1] Explainer video https://youtu.be/HlNfP3iywvI
Disclaimer: No connections to company; just impressed by their approach and awesome explainers on their site.