This is a major breakthrough that has been achieved in the field of energy production: European researchers have managed to produce a record amount of energy during a nuclear fusion process, at the Joint European Torus (JET) in the United Kingdom. The fusion energy released reached 59 megajoules, more than double the previous record, dating back to 1997. An average of 11 MW of fusion power was generated, for five-second experiments.
Nuclear fusion is a process taking place in stars, in which atomic nuclei fuse, releasing huge amounts of energy. For the same amount of fuel, ten million times more energy is released than by burning coal, oil or gas. This is a reaction that the scientific community has been trying to master for decades.
The fulfillment of many years of preparation
These results, presented as revolutionary in the press release, “this is the most impressive demonstration in 25 years of the potential of fusion to provide safe, sustainable and low-carbon energy for the future.”
“This result is the completion of many years of preparation by the researchers of the EUROfusion consortium. This assessment, and more importantly, the lessons we have learned from the fusion process under these conditions and how the theoretical predictions have been confirmed, show that we are on the right path towards the practical realization of fusion energy as an energy source. Now that we have demonstrated the continuous production of fusion energy for five seconds, this paves the way for a continuous production of five minutes, and then five hours, as the fusion machines become larger.” explains the director of the EUROfusion consortium, Tony Donné, in the statement.
