re: Are we getting closer to Fusion energy?

I'm pretty sure containment has always been known to be the biggest hurdle since R&D really began looking into fusion reactors, well after finding a viable energy-sufficient method(Lawrence Laboratory was up to 500 terawatts for compressing hydrogen to 100x the density of lead the last I really read on it) of starting fusion. Now it's mostly a matter of increasing efficiency. I will be glad to see the tech become modular sometime in the future, i.e. sizing up or down for anything from powering local area to spacecraft

I always thought the stuff they were doing over at the National Ignition Facility was some cutting edge stuff. Here's a layout of the 500TW beam systematically firing spherically at a pellet of fusion material


"NIF's basic layout. The laser pulse is generated in the room just right of center, and is sent into the beamlines (blue) on either side. After several passes through the beamlines the light is sent into the "switchyard" (red) where it is aimed into the target chamber (silver)."