Put another way, it would take 10 million pounds of coal to yield as much energy as one pound of fusion fuel. (americansecurityproject.org)
The payoff, however, would be huge because fusion fuel is abundant in seawater and the reactor would produce minimal radioactive waste. (sciencemag.org)
Originally proposed in a 2010 Sandia theoretical paper, the concept uses a laser to heat fusion fuel contained in a small cylinder (called a liner) as it is compressed by the huge magnetic field of Sandia's massive Z accelerator. (rochester.edu)