Scientists at South Korea’s nuclear fusion device — the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) — say they have set a new world record by sustaining plasma at a 100 million degrees Celsius for 48 seconds, according to a report by CNN.
That temperature is about seven times hotter than the core of the sun, and KSTAR scientists previously managed to sustain plasma at that level for 30 seconds in 2022. Increasing the time spent at that temperature was tricky due to “the unstable nature of the high temperature plasma,” making the new record a significant step, KSTAR director Si-Woo Yoon told CNN. Korean scientists will now aim to sustain plasma temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius for 300 seconds by 2026, he added.
Scientists across the globe have recently announced several breakthroughs in their work with nuclear fusion reactors, which are also referred to as an ‘artificial sun’ due to the extremely high temperatures they reach. These reactors are used to fuse hydrogen with other elements — a process that can release an immense amount of power. Scientists say successfully sustaining nuclear fusion can potentially create unlimited energy without the burden of carbon emissions.
Read the full report: CNN
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US Confirms Major Breakthrough in Nuclear Fusion – Guardian
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What is China’s Tokamak Fusion Reactor?
Tencent-Backed Firm Makes Fusion Breakthrough – FT
