France's CEA announced a breakthrough at its CEA WEST Tokamak, where it maintained fusion plasma for over 22 minutes, exceeding China's record of 18 minutes. Achieving and maintaining plasma at extreme temperatures requires intricate technological control, using powerful magnets and protective materials. While CEA WEST cannot produce the electricity-generating fusion plasma, this success contributes to the broader efforts towards effective fusion energy, ultimately paving the way for future reactors like the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor to harness this power sustainably.
This leap forward demonstrates how our knowledge of plasmas and technological control of them over longer periods is becoming more mature, and offers hope that fusion plasmas can be stabilised for greater amounts of time in machines.
The test at the CEA WEST Tokamak saw temperatures reach 50 million degrees, an achievement crucial in the journey towards operational fusion reactors.
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