Researchers in France have set an impressive new record. For 22 breathtaking minutes, blazing-hot plasma swirled inside the WEST tokamak, setting a new world record for plasma duration. A tokamak is one of the most promising designs for a fusion reactor: a doughnut-shaped device that uses powerful magnetic fields to confine and control superheated

WEST, a tokamak run from the CEA Cadarache site in southern France and one of the EUROfusion consortium medium size Tokamak facilities, was able to maintain a plasma for on 12 February. This was a 25% improvement on the previous record time achieved with EAST,

French research organization CEA reported that on 12 February, the CEA’s WEST tokamak maintained a nuclear fusion plasma for more than 22 minutes, a 25 percent improvement over the previous record. “This leap forward demonstrates how our knowledge of plasmas and technological control of them over longer periods is becoming more

On 12 February, the CEA’s WEST machine was able to maintain a plasma for more than 22 minutes. In doing so, it smashed the previous record for plasma duration achieved with a tokamak. This leap forward demonstrates how our knowledge of plasmas and technological control of them over longer periods is becoming more mature,

France has taken a major leap forward in the race for nuclear fusion energy, achieving a new world record for plasma duration. On February 12, 2025, scientists at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) successfully sustained a plasma reaction for 1,

Nuclear fusion aims to control inherently unstable plasma, offering a highly efficient energy source with minimal fuel use and no long-lived radioact