NIF is building ‘miniature star on Earth’

Daily Mail : At the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, California, scientists have been working since 1997 to build the world’s first sustainable fusion reactor, due to be completed by 2012. On 2 November, a test yielded a world-record-breaking 1.3 million megajoules, with a peak radiation temperature at the core of approximately 6 million °F. The project has been likened to “creating a miniature star on Earth.” “The results of all of these experiments are extremely encouraging,” said NIF director Ed Moses. “They give us great confidence that we will be able to achieve ignition conditions in deuteriumtritium fusion targets.”