Daejeon, South Korea: South Korean scientists have announced a new world record for the length of time they have sustained temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius — seven times hotter than the core of the sun — during a nuclear fusion experiment, in what they say is a major breakthrough for the futuristic energy technology. KFE’s fusion research device, KSTAR, managed to sustain plasma temperatures of 100 million degrees for 48 seconds during tests between December 2023 and February 2024, beating the previous record of 30 seconds set in 2021. Processes have been modified to extend the time, including using tungsten instead of carbon in “divertors,” which extract heat and impurities from the fusion reaction. The ultimate goal is to reach 300 seconds. The results of this work will feed into the development of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor in southern France, known as ITER, the world’s largest tokamak that aims to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion.
