Magnetic confinement advance promises 100 times more fusion power at half the cost

Despite recent advancements, commercial electricity produced by fusion reaction power plants is still likely years away, due mainly to inefficiencies and cost. The team working in California claims that they have made significant inroads into solving both problems.

Current efforts involve generating the magnetic field around the area where the plasma is generated using conventional techniques, which use a lot of electricity. The FRC works by generating its own magnetic field to hold the plasma, instead of using a housing.