Nuclear Fusion energy: harnessing the power of the stars

Scientists are claiming a landmark in the process to create sustainable low carbon nuclear fusion energy, in an experiment which recreated the energy process that powers the stars. The experiment, conducted by a team in Oxford in the UK only lasted a few seconds and created just enough energy to boil sixty kettles. But in a JET reactor with a casing capable of withstanding temperatures fifteen times the heat of the middle of the sun (150 million degrees centigrade) a record-breaking 59 megajoules of sustained fusion energy was created. Scientists are calling it a breakthrough, in an experiment not attempted in a quarter of a century. Kathryn speaks with Head of Fusion Science at European research consortium EUROfusion, Professor Volker Naulin who designed and ran the experiment.