###Background
Producing mass-scale clean energy is a huge open problem.
Coal and oil deliver affordable energy at a global scale, but with pollution and expensive externalities. Nuclear fission can produce at scale, but with the side effect of nuclear waste and Fukushima disasters.
Unlike traditional nuclear fission, fusion cannot cause a nuclear disaster. The fuel is non radio-active. The bi-product is inert helium (if the reactor is using proton boron11 fuel). Mankind has yet to build a fusion reactor that produces more energy than it consumes. This threshold is called break-even. Although we achieved fusion in the 50s, we are a long way from making net energy. If we can reach break-even, nuclear fusion would provide inexpensive energy which is both clean and safe. Current approaches toward break-even fusion include the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), which has cost $15B over 6 years, and t