China’s ‘artificial sun’ breaks nuclear fusion record by generating stable loop of plasma for 1,000 seconds

On January 23, 2025By Littum

China’s “artificial sun” reactor has broken its own world record for sustaining super-hot plasma, marking another milestone on the long road to near-limitless clean energy.

The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) nuclear fusion reactor maintained a stable, highly confined plasma loop – the high energy the fourth state of matter — for 1,066 seconds on Monday (January 20), more than doubling his previous best of 403 seconds, Chinese state media reported.

Nuclear fusion reactors are nicknamed “artificial suns” because they generate energy in the same way as sun — by fusing two light atoms into a single heavy atom via heat and pressure. The Sun has much more pressure than Earth’s reactors, so scientists compensate by using temperatures that are many times higher hotter than the sun.

Nuclear fusion offers the potential for an almost unlimited power source without greenhouse gas emissions or much nuclear waste. However, scientists have been working on this technology for more than 70 years, and it is likely not developing fast enough to be a practical solution to climate crisis. Scientists expect us to have fusion power within decadesbut it can take much longer.

EAST’s new record won’t immediately usher in what is being called the “Holy Grail” of clean power, but it is a step toward a possible future where fusion power plants generate electricity.

East is a magnetic containment reactor, or tokamak, designed to last plasma burns constantly for longer periods. Reactors like this have never achieved ignition, which is the point at which nuclear fusion creates its own energy and sustains its own reaction, but the new record is a step toward maintaining the long-lasting, confined plasma loops that future reactors will need to generate electricity.

“A fusion device must achieve stable operation with high efficiency for thousands of seconds to enable the self-sustaining circulation of plasma, which is essential for the continued power generation of future fusion facilities,” said Song Yuntao, director of the Institute of Plasma Physics. to the fusion project at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese state media said.

Related: Nuclear fusion could be the clean energy of the future – but these ‘tough’ challenges stand in the way

EAST is one of several nuclear fusion reactors worldwide, but they all currently use far more energy than they produce. In 2022, the United States National ignition system‘s fusion reactor briefly achieved ignition in its core using a different experimental method than EAST, relying on rapid bursts of energy, but the reactor as a whole still used more energy than it consumed.

Tokamaks like EAST are the most common nuclear fusion reactors. EAST heats the plasma and traps it inside a doughnut-shaped reactor chamber – called a tokamak – with powerful magnetic fields. For the latest record, researchers made several upgrades to the reactor, including doubling the power of its heating system, according to Chinese state media.

The data collected by EAST will support the development of other reactors, both in China and internationally. China is part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) program, which involves dozens of countries, including the United States, Britain, Japan, South Korea and Russia.

The ITER reactor, which is being built in southern France, contains the world’s strongest magnet and will fire up in 2039 at the earliest. ITER will be an experimental tool designed to create continuous fusion for research purposes, but could pave the way for fusion power plants.

“We hope to expand international cooperation via EAST and bring fusion energy to practical use for humanity,” Song said.