The Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) fusion research device set a new world record in November, maintaining a continuous operation of plasma for 20 seconds with an ion-temperature higher than 100 million degrees.
Other devices in countries around the world have briefly maintained this high temperature plasma for a few seconds, but none for 10 seconds or longer.
The experiment was a joint effort between the KSTAR Research Center at the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy, the Seoul National University, and Columbia University in the United States.
The science website phys.org reports, “Director Si-Woo Yoon of the KSTAR Research Center at the KFE explained, ‘The technologies required for long operations of 100 million-degree plasma are the key to the realization of fusion energy, and the KSTAR’s success in maintaining the high-temperature plasma for 20 seconds will be an important turning point in the race for securing the technologies for the long high-performance plasma operation, a critical component of a commercial nuclear fusion reactor in the future.’”
