European researchers at the Joint European Torus (JET) nuclear fusion reactor facility have set a new world record by releasing 69 megajoules of energy in a sustained and controlled nuclear fusion process. This breakthrough is the result of its experimental campaign aimed at testing operational scenarios for future fusion machines under conditions as close as possible to those that will be encountered in the ITER project and future fusion power plants.
The consortium EUROfusionconsortium, which brings together fusion laboratories from all over Europe, launched an ambitious experimental campaign at the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s (UKAEA) JET facility in Culham, UK, in September 2023. Its goal was to experiment with extrapolated operating scenarios of small and medium-sized European devices to pave the way for the international ITER project and the fusion power plants that will follow.
Joint European Torus distinguishes itself from current tokamak devices, which confine a cloud of hot, ionized plasma in a cage of magnetic fields, because it can operate with the deuterium-tritium fuel that will be the basis for future fusion machines such as ITER and the DEMO power demonstration plant.
The nuclear fusion reactor record
Notably, researchers at the UKAEA JET facility have set a new fusion energy record by releasing 69.26 megajoules of heat during a single pulse, using advanced scenarios to structure and control their plasma. This achievement was accomplished by releasing energy for six seconds from only 0.21 milligrams of fuel, equivalent to the energy released by burning 2 kg of coal.
The EUROfusion team beat its own previous world records of 59 megajoules (2022) and 22.7 megajoules (1997), also set at JET. JET scientists were able to reproduce the fusion conditions required for the new record reliably in multiple experimental pulses, demonstrating the understanding and control they have achieved over the complex fusion processes.
The record was achieved by heating a plasma of deuterium and tritium, two isotopes of hydrogen, to a temperature of 150 million degrees Celsius. Due to their high fusion cross section and low ignition temperature, deuterium and tritium are ideal candidates for fusion energy. Deuterium is found in seawater, while tritium can be produced from lithium, a common metal.
The fusion of deuterium and tritium forms helium and releases an enormous amount of thermal energy without contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Fusion is inherently safe, as it cannot initiate an uncontrolled process and does not produce long-lasting residues.
“We can reliably create fusion plasmas using the same fuel mixture that commercial fusion power plants will use, demonstrating advanced expertise developed over time” said Dr. Fernanda Rimini, JET Senior Operations Manager and JET Science Operations Leader.
“Our successful demonstration of operational scenarios for future fusion machines such as ITER and DEMO, validated by the new energy record, instills further confidence in the development of fusion energy” said Professor Ambrogio Fasoli, Program Manager (CEO) at EUROfusion. “Beyond setting a new record, we accomplished things we had never done before and deepened our understanding of the physics of fusion.”
About JET
JET has been a remarkable achievement in the field of fusion energy research. It has been the world’s largest and most successful fusion experiment and a core research facility of the European Fusion Program.
Since its inception in 1983 as a joint European project, JET has pursued safe, low-carbon and sustainable fusion energy solutions to meet the world’s future energy demands. It has provided crucial insights into the complex mechanics of fusion, enabling scientists to plan the international fusion experiment ITER and DEMO, the fusion power demonstration plant currently under design by the European fusion community.
Built in Europe and used collaboratively by European researchers throughout its lifetime, JET became the property of UKAEA in October 2021. The machine celebrated its 40th anniversary in June this year and ceased plasma operations at the end of 2023, having created 105,842 pulses.
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Video: EUROfusion
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