If they realize their full potential, nuclear fusion reactors could provide the world with a near limitless amount of clean electricity. That potential is still far from being achieved. But speaking at the recent Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, Debbie Callahan of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), California, announced that researchers have, for the first time, triggered “ignition”—a fusion reaction that produces more energy than it receives and can thus burn on its own. The demonstration, which was performed at LLNL’s National Ignition Facility (NIF), takes commercial fusion-energy reactors a step closer to reality. It also provides a platform for understanding materials under extreme conditions.\
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