Nuclear fusion requires extremely high temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius. At these temperatures, atoms are stripped of their electrons, forming a highly ionized, super-hot gas called plasma. Keeping this plasma hot and stable is essential for sustained fusion reactions.

France has set a new record by maintaining high-temperature plasma for 1,337 seconds (22 minutes and 17 seconds) in the WEST tokamak reactor, surpassing China’s recent achievement in its “artificial sun” reactor, which maintained plasma for 1,066 seconds (17.5 minutes). This result represents a 25% increase over the previous Chinese record.

The concept of nuclear fusion involves merging the nuclei of two light atoms to form a heavier nucleus, resulting in the release of immense amounts of energy, similar to the process occurring in the core of the sun and stars. In contrast, nuclear fission, used in current nuclear reactors, is based on splitting a heavy atom’s nucleus into two lighter nuclei.

This achievement paves the way for developing sustainable nuclear fusion reactors capable of producing energy far exceeding that of fission reactors.

The WEST tokamak reactor, operated by the CEA, achieved plasma temperatures of 50 million degrees Celsius, an important step towards realizing fusion reactors that generate clean and sustainable energy.

It’s worth noting that China’s artificial sun reactor maintained plasma at higher temperatures, exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius.

The WEST team plans to continue increasing plasma duration to several hours and raising temperatures, advancing towards achieving sustainable nuclear fusion.