French scientists break world record while creating 'artificial sun': Are we closer to unlimited clean energy?
nuclear fusion research, setting a new world record with their 'artificial sun' reactor. On February 12, the French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission’s WEST reactor (short for «Environment in Steady-State Tokamak,» with «W» representing tungsten) maintained a plasma state for more than 22 minutes—a feat that could revolutionize clean energy production.
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The Power of Fusion: Mimicking the Sun’s Energy
This scientific breakthrough is rooted in nuclear fusion, the same chemical reaction that fuels our Sun. Using hydrogen isotopes, fusion has the potential to provide humanity with a limitless supply of clean energy. Just one gram of these isotopes can produce the energy equivalent of 11 tonnes of coal—without emitting greenhouse gases or leaving behind hazardous nuclear waste like conventional fission reactors.
The core of this achievement lies in the creation of plasma, the fourth state of matter (after solid, liquid, and gas). When hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium are heated to over 50 million degrees Celsius, they turn into plasma. The challenge? Keeping that plasma stable and hot without it cooling down and reverting to gas.
Anne-Isabelle Etienvre, Director of Fundamental Research at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, praised the milestone: “WEST has achieved a new key technological milestone by
