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France operates fusion reactor for record 22 minutes 

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Fri, 21 Mar 25 2:32 PM | 17 view(s)
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March 18, 2025

France operates fusion reactor for record 22 minutes

by Hans Bader
LibertyUnyielding.com


Magnetic fusion experiment in 1991.

“France has upped the ante in the quest for fusion power by maintaining a plasma reaction for over 22 minutes – a new record. The milestone was reached on February 12 at” the WEST Tokamak reactor, reports New Atlas:

Achieving the dream of commercial fusion power is the Holy Grail of engineering and has been for 80 years. With a single gram of hydrogen isotopes yielding the energy equivalent of 11 tonnes of coal, a practical fusion reactor would hold the promise of unlimited, clean energy for humanity until the end of time.”

Small wonder that billions have been invested by both government and industry in the quest to make fusion power a reality. However, while fusion is relatively easy to achieve in the heart of the sun or in a hydrogen bomb, creating a practical reactor that produces more energy than is put into it is another matter entirely.

The tricky bit isn’t to get atoms to fuse. That’s a fairly simple lab bench experiment. The problem is creating the right conditions where the fusion reaction is self-sustaining, with a net energy output. That means reaching temperatures of between 180 – 270 million °F, or 3-5 times hotter than the Sun’s core, a pressure of five to 10 atmospheres at the point of reaction, and keeping a high-energy plasma stable for at least 10 seconds.

The CEA seems to have done considerably better than 10 seconds and gone 25% beyond what China achieved in January 2025 with 1,066 seconds. In the latest test, the WEST Tokamak held its reaction for 1,337 seconds.

The purpose of the test wasn’t just to keep the plasma reaction going like a stage performer spinning plates. It was also to keep the reaction stable without the components in the reactor facing the plasma becoming eroded or polluted, or malfunctioning.


MIT scientists plan to build a fusion power plant in central Virginia.

In October, CNN reported that “old, unexploded” nuclear “warheads” are being turned into fuel in Tennessee, “to power the next generation of America’s nuclear reactors — small, modular power stations that are easier and cheaper to build. They require far less upkeep and physical space than the aging fleet of large nuclear power plants.”

Such small nuclear reactors are coming to western Virginia, says the state’s second-largest utility. And Poland’s ‘Project Phoenix’ plans to build small modular reactors across Poland. Such reactors are a new technology that has been used largely in pilot projects.

Nuclear plants emit no air pollution, only harmless steam. Unlike wind farms, nuclear power plants don’t kill birds. The biggest utility that generates wind power pleaded guilty to federal crimes for killing 150 eagles.

“Nuclear power is the safest form of energy we have, if you consider deaths per megawatt of energy produced,” notes Yale University’s Steven Novella. “Wind turbines, surprisingly, kill more people than nuclear plants,” notes an environmentalist. And “solar panels require 17 times more materials in the form of cement, glass, concrete, and steel than do nuclear plants, and create over 200 times more waste,” such as “dust from toxic heavy metals including lead, cadmium, and chromium.”

Many years ago, France and Sweden replaced most of their fossil-fueled electricity with nuclear power, and as a result, ended up emitting less than a tenth of the world average of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour. The air in Germany got dirtier because of its hostility to nuclear power. Coal-fired power plants were turned back on to replace nuclear plants that generated no air pollution, but have been closed down.

http://libertyunyielding.com/2025/03/18/france-operates-fusion-reactor-for-record-22-minutes/

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