Nuclear fusion energy breakthrough smashes world record

A British reactor has smashed the world record for the amount of energy made in a sustained nuclear fusion reaction, in what scientists said was a “landmark” in the quest for clean and reliable power.

The Joint European Torus in Culham, Oxfordshire, announced today that over the course of five seconds it had recreated the processes used in the Sun to make 59 megajoules of energy from fusing together hydrogen to make helium. The result more than doubles its own record from 25 years ago, of 22 megajoules.

The numbers are still small — roughly equivalent to the energy required to run a kettle in normal use for two months — but the result is a vital proof of concept that a larger power plant