France Sets New Record in Hunt for Nuclear Fusion

French scientists have announced they set a new record of 22 minutes for keeping hydrogen atoms in a state called plasma.

The team said their work marks an important step in the search for nuclear fusion methods that could produce massive amounts of clean energy in the future.

France’s Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) said the experiment – carried out February 12 – showed the process kept, or maintained, a state of plasma for 1,337 seconds. The CEA added that the new record was 25 percent longer than the previous one, set in China last month.

The aim of fusion research is to create the same kind of nuclear reaction that happens in the center of the sun. In a fusion reaction, the centers of two atoms fuse, or join together, to form a new atom with a heavier nucleus, or center.

This process releases large amounts of energy. Some experts say this means fusion could be a major source of clean, safe, and almost limitless energy in the future. However, because fusion happens at very high temperatures, it is difficult to control.

The scientists in France used a machine called a tokamak to do their research. The machine is a circular ring with strong walls to resist intense heat. Inside the ring, hydrogen atoms are heated to temperatures up to about 50 million degrees Celsius. The process creates plasma that is held together by powerful magnets.

Anne-Isabelle Etienvre is the CEA's head of fundamental research. She told the French news agency AFP the new record for making plasma shows "that we control its production, but also its maintenance."

However, Etienvre noted that there are still many "technological barriers" to overcome before fusion can "produce more energy than it consumes."

Scientists say that for nuclear fusion to succeed, hydrogen atoms will need to be heated up to more than 100 million degrees Celsius. At this extreme temperature, plasma can become unstable and difficult to control. This can lead to energy loss and limit how well a possible future nuclear fusion reactor could work.

In the coming months, the research team will look to increase the time they can keep the atoms in a plasma state. They hope to bring the total time "up to several hours combined."

The CEA noted that in future experiments, scientists will also aim to heat the plasma to higher temperatures and examine the effects the hot plasma has on their testing machine.

Teams from multiple countries are working together in southern France to build the world’s largest tokamak and fusion research center, called ITER. The effort includes scientists from the United States, China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, and Russia.

The teams hope the current research on maintaining plasma will be useful for future projects at ITER. However, AFP reports that repeated delays and increasing costs have postponed operations at ITER until at least 2033.

I’m Andrew Smith.

Andrew Smith adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting from Agence France-Presse.

fundamental -adj. relating to what is most important and supportive for things or activities

consume -v. takes in or uses

unstable -adj. not secure, difficult to keep together in one place

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