fusion reaction

Mr Galloway and Mr Valys think that more powerful lasers will make it possible to build a working fusion reaction that can supply electricity to the power grid.

"I suppose my scepticism is, I haven't yet even seen a persuasive conceptual diagram of how you manage the process of taking energy out while keeping the fusion reaction going," says Prof Ian Lowe at Griffith University in Australia.

Another challenge is that the fusion reaction produces high energy particles that will degrade steel, or any other material that lines the reactor core.

Xcimer plans to use a "waterfall" of molten salt flowing around the fusion reaction to absorb the heat.

When its core runs out of Hydrogen, the fusion reaction begins to shift to the star’s outer layers, causing the layers to expand and grow bigger.