Fusion power shows promise

Fusion power offers a safer, more efficient means of producing energy. Fusion reactions are at the core of the massive energy-production capabilities of stars, but accomplishing the same here has proved difficult. One main problem is that to induce fusion you need to have a plasma -- a very hot, high-energy state of matter. So hot, in fact, that it cannot come into contact with any other kind of matter, so fusion reactors must employ complex magnetic fields to confine the plasma. University of Tenessee researchers, as a part of a much larger international team, have made a significant breakthrough in reactor technology that could lead to a commercially viable fusion reactor. The key was choosing the right material -- a glass and epoxy chemical mixture with just the right thermodynamic and material properties -- and then  "impregnate" the reactor with it, which was an intensive two-day endeavor.