South Korea has made a significant leap in the quest for clean energy with its "artificial sun," the KSTAR reactor (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research), setting a new world record.
This feat involved maintaining a plasma at a temperature of 180 million degrees Fahrenheit (100 million degrees Celsius) for 48 seconds, thus surpassing the previous record of 31 seconds set by the same reactor in 2021.
Inside view of the KSTAR reactor chamber.
Credit: Korean Fusion Energy Institute (KFE)
Nuclear fusion, the process that powers stars, represents an almost unlimited and clean source of energy, with no greenhouse gas emissions or long-lasting radioactive waste. However, replicating the conditions at the core of stars on Earth is extremely complex.
The tokamak, a widespread design for fusion reactors, heats the plasma and confines it within a donut-shaped chamber using powerful magnetic fields. Despite technical challenges, particularly managing an extremely hot plasma, researchers have improved the design of KSTAR by replacing carbon with tungsten to optimize the tokamak's "divertors."
Photo of South Korea's KSTAR nuclear fusion reactor.
Credit: Korean Fusion Energy Institute (KFE) This breakthrough is part of a series of international efforts to overcome the challenges of nuclear fusion. The KSTAR team now aims to maintain a plasma at 180 million degrees Fahrenheit (100 million degrees Celsius) for 300 seconds by 2026.
The KSTAR achievement, along with progress from other fusion reactors around the world, such as the U.S. government-funded National Ignition Facility (NIF), highlights significant strides toward achieving a sustainable and clean energy source for the future.