A group of European researchers have set a new world record in fusion energy. In a fusion experiment that researchers at DTU have participated in, they have managed to produce 69 MJ (megajoules) of energy. This is more than anyone has ever done before, and although 69 MJ is the equivalent of the amount of energy it takes to drive 150 kilometres in an electric car, only 0.2 milligrams of fuel was used to achieve it.
The experiment took place at the Joint European Torus (JET) facility in Oxford, England, as part of the European consortium for fusion research, EUROfusion, which DTU is part of. The previous record of 59 MJ was achieved by researchers at JET in 2021, but before that, it took 25 years to break the record - and now, in just two years, researchers have produced more energy than ever before.
"It shows that we are on the right track towards reliable fusion energy, because now we have repeatedly been able to show that the experiment works and produces more and more energy," says Søren Bang Korsholm, Senior Researcher at DTU. Several DTU researchers have been involved in planning and analyzing the experiment at JET.
A step towards a commercial plant
JET is the world's largest and most powerful fusion reactor, a so-called tokamak, which uses powerful magnetic fields to hold a plasma while heating it to over 10 times the core temperature of the sun. In the experiment, researchers used the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium as fuel, producing helium and large amounts of energy when they fuse.
While there is still a long way to go before fusion energy can deliver clean energy in unlimited quantities, the new world record is a significant step.
"It is the same fuel type and technology that commercial fusion power plants are expected to use which makes this result really important," says Søren Bang Korsholm.
