Progress towards a nuclear fusion reactor

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Abstract
The article starts by outlining the physical conditions under which nuclear fusion reactions are most likely to be sustained, pointing out the sharp difference between the plasma state of matter necessary for nuclear fusion reactions and the thermodynamically more relaxed conditions sufficient for nuclear fission reactions. The confinement of hot dense plasmas by magnetic fields is the principal scientific problem to be solved, and progress in this work under the main headings of open-ended magnetic confinement systems and closed magnetic confinement systems is described. The article ends by reviewing the technological problems of nuclear fusion reactors, which are the next major obstacle to be overcome once the confinement problem is solved, and the economic possibilities of these reactors as electricity power producers.