South Korea's fusion reactor KSTAR set a new record by maintaining a temperature of 100 million degrees over 100 seconds. The breakthrough was achieved during tests conducted from December 2023 to February 2024.
Scientists note: for comparison, the temperature in the Sun's core is 15 million degrees Celsius. In addition, the reactor was able to maintain a high degree of plasma containment (H-mode) for more than 100 seconds. H-mode — this is a stable state of plasma that is better contained than with a low degree of containment.
One of the key elements of success was the tungsten divertors located in the lower part of the vacuum vessel of the magnetic fusion device. They play an important role in the removal of waste gases and impurities from the reactor, withstanding significant heat loads on the surface.
The new record achievement could provide valuable data for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor ITER, a 21.5 billion megaproject dollars ITER is expected to reach first plasma by 2025 and be fully operational by 2035. Tungstenite will also be used in its divertors.
The president of the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy, Suk Jae-Yoo, announced that the research has been "green-lighted" to obtain the key technologies needed for demonstration power reactors in the future. His team will try to provide the basic technologies necessary for the operation of ITER and future demonstration reactors.