Nuclear fusion reactor in UK sets new world record for energy output

From here:

Nuclear fusion reactor in UK sets new world record for energy output | Live Science

“In a news conference today (Feb. 8), representatives from the Joint European Torus (JET) facility declared that the reactor's final tests yielded 69.26 megajoules of heat from just 0.21 milligrams of fuel — the equivalent of burning 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms) of coal. This is more total energy — though not more net positive energy — than any other fusion reaction has produced thus far.

Tests such as this could help unlock fusion as a viable source of clean, near-limitless energy, the researchers said. “

But:

“However, this record will be JET's last. The project was decommissioned in December 2023, shortly after the record-breaking test took place.

Researchers have now begun the arduous process of taking the reactor apart, a task that is expected to last until 2040. But over that time, they hope to learn even more about what made JET tick, including how renegade plasma blasts affected the tokamak's internal structure. It will also help scientists develop safer strategies to dispose of radioactive waste, the team said.”

And:

“JET's legacy will live on in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a massive tokamak in southern France scheduled to start up in 2025. The $22 billion dollar project will use a very similar fusion strategy, but at a much larger scale. “

I wonder if French electricity prices will fall once that 22 billion nuclear plant comes online?

Onwards!

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