On February 12, the CEA-operated WEST (Westinghouse Tokamak) facility in southern France achieved a milestone in the field of nuclear energy. The device managed to maintain a stable plasma for 22 minutes and 17 seconds, beating China’s previous plasma record by 25% . This breakthrough represents a technological achievement and opens new doors towards plasma stabilization in future fusion reactors such as ITER .
Is France close to dominating the plasma record?
With an injection of 2 MW of thermal power, WEST managed to maintain the plasma at 50 million degrees Celsius , far exceeding previous records. This breakthrough is part of global efforts to achieve a clean and sustainable source of energy through nuclear fusion . Despite the advances, the process remains a challenge due to the inherent instability of the plasma.
France is positioning itself as a leader in nuclear fusion research, thanks to the CEA and its super-advanced facilities like WEST . Researchers hope that this breakthrough will allow for much longer plasma lifetimes and even higher temperatures, approaching the conditions needed for ITER, the next big step in fusion energy .
Despite the technological and economic challenges that remain, this breakthrough puts France and the CEA at the forefront of the race for efficient fusion energy . The coming months will be crucial as the WEST team continues its experiments to ensure that nuclear fusion can offer a viable energy alternative for the future.
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Source and photos: CEA
