equal to the energy put in. All our research, and our work with other reactors like this, has shown that it's simply a matter of scale. Our machine is now fully devoted to testing design choices for ITER. 'This October, we will shut down the reactor and remove its carbon tiles, to install new beryllium tiles on the wall and tungsten tiles on the floor, where most of the heat escapes from the chamber. If we are able to demonstrate this works, ITER will perhaps begin being built at an earlier stage.' John Parris of HiPER - another European project, which will investigate laser-driven fusion - says: 'This is save-the-world science. Fusion is the only serious answer to future energy demands - this is the energy Holy Grail. The human race has a massive, ravenous demand for power, and there is no other way to provide grid-level energy.' Dr Romanelli's team have already proved man can recreate the centre of the sun on Earth. If their calculations are correct, JET is the seed of an idea that will solve the energy crisis forever, halt global warming and ensure nations never have to battle over energy sources again. The downside? It'll take billions of pounds, and more than three decades, to find out. Watch the JET Fusion Reactor in action POWERING THE FUSION REACTOR A tokamak fusion reactor (the name is a loose transliteration of the Russian phrase 'TOroidal CHAmber with MAgnetic Coils') heats two forms of hydrogen atoms - deuterium