The Future of Fusion: How South Korea's KSTAR Achieved a Breakthrough
Hiroshi Sato
Nuclear fusion, the process that powers the sun and the stars, has long been a dream for humanity. By fusing light atoms together, such as hydrogen, it could produce enormous amounts of clean and sustainable energy, without generating radioactive waste or greenhouse gases.
However, achieving nuclear fusion on Earth is not easy. It requires creating and maintaining extremely high temperatures and pressures, while confining the plasma (a state of matter where atoms are ionized) in a magnetic field. The plasma must also be stable enough to sustain the fusion reactions for a long enough time.
Many countries and organizations have been working on developing fusion reactors for decades, but none have yet reached the elusive goal of "breakeven", where the energy output from fusion is equal to or greater than the energy input to heat and confine the plasma.
That is why the recent experiment by South Korea's Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) facility is so remarkable. On September 7, 2022, KSTAR achieved a plasma temperature of over 100 million degrees Celsius for 30 seconds, which is nearly seven times hotter than the core of the sun [^3^]. This was also the longest duration ever recorded for such a high temperature.
This was not only a scientific feat, but also a demonstration that nuclear fusion is moving from being a physics problem to an engineering one[^1^]. By using advanced superconducting magnets and sophisticated plasma control systems, KSTAR was able to overcome some of the technical challenges that have plagued previous fusion experiments.
The success of KSTAR also has implications for the international fusion project ITER, which is being built in France with the participation of 35 countries, including South Korea. ITER aims to achieve breakeven by 2035, and eventually produce 500 megawatts of fusion power for 20 minutes. KSTAR's results will provide valuable data and insights for ITER's design and operation.
Of course, there are still many hurdles to overcome before fusion can become a viable source of energy for humanity. For instance, KSTAR did not achieve a net energy gain from fusion, as it consumed more electricity than it produced. It also used deuterium as the fuel, which is easier to fuse than hydrogen, but still requires a rare isotope called tritium. Moreover, scaling up from a laboratory experiment to a commercial reactor will require solving many engineering and economic challenges.
However, as a young and optimistic tech wizz, I believe that fusion is worth pursuing as a long-term solution for our energy needs. Fusion has the potential to provide abundant, clean and safe energy for generations to come. It could also open up new possibilities for space exploration and scientific discovery.
I hope that you enjoyed reading this article and learned something new about the future of fusion. If you want to know more about this topic, you can check out these sources:
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