South Korea has achieved a remarkable feat in the field of atomic fusion, the process of fusing light atoms to release enormous amounts of energy. The Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) facility, also known as the Korean artificial sun, has successfully maintained a fusion reaction at a scorching temperature of over 100 million degrees Celsius for 30 seconds, setting a new world record. This is almost seven times hotter than the core of our natural sun, which burns at around 15 million degrees Celsius.

The KSTAR team has demonstrated that atomic fusion is not just a theoretical possibility, but a practical reality that can be harnessed for clean and abundant energy. Atomic fusion is considered the holy grail of energy sources, as it produces no greenhouse gases or radioactive waste, unlike its counterpart, nuclear fission, which splits heavy atoms to generate power. However, achieving and sustaining fusion is extremely challenging, as it requires immense heat and pressure to overcome the repulsive force between positively charged protons in the nuclei of light atoms. The KSTAR facility uses a doughnut-shaped device called a tokamak, which uses powerful magnets to confine and compress a plasma of hydrogen isotopes inside a vacuum chamber.

By heating and pressurizing the plasma, the device triggers fusion reactions that release more energy than they consume. The KSTAR team has been working on improving the performance and stability of their device since 2008, when they first achieved plasma operation. In 2018, they managed to sustain a fusion reaction for 1.5 seconds at 100 million degrees Celsius, and in 2020, they extended it to 20 seconds. Their latest achievement of 30 seconds is a significant milestone towards their ultimate goal of 300 seconds by 2025. The KSTAR project is part of an international collaboration to develop fusion technology for commercial use. South Korea is also a partner in the ITER project, a giant tokamak being built in France that aims to produce 500 megawatts of fusion power for 50 minutes by 2035.

The success of the KSTAR experiment is a testament to the ingenuity and perseverance of South Korean scientists and engineers, who have made their country a leader in the field of atomic fusion. Their work brings us closer to the dream of harnessing the power of the stars for the benefit of humanity.

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