Fusion energy: Could powerful lasers power a working reactor?

Damien JemisonThe National Ignition Facility in California uses powerful lasers to spark fusion reactionsDeep under the Nevada desert in the 1980s the US conducted secret nuclear weapons research.Among the experiments was an effort to see if nuclear fusion, the reaction which powers the sun, could be sparked on earth in a controlled setting.The experiments were classified, but it was widely known among physicists…