World’s largest and most advanced nuclear fusion reactor starts its official operations in Japan

The world’s most extensive and cutting-edge nuclear fusion reactor, JT-60SA, commenced its official operations in Japan’s Ibaraki Prefecture on December 1. This collaborative effort between the European Union and Japan represents a pioneering venture into experimental nuclear fusion technology, which some believe holds the key to fulfilling humanity’s future energy requirements by establishing nuclear fusion as a pristine energy source.

Diverging from the prevailing technique of fission utilized in current nuclear power plants, fusion involves the merging of two atomic nuclei rather than the splitting of one. Advocates of nuclear fusion see it as a clean and sustainable energy solution.

During the inauguration ceremony, the European Commission for Energy released a statement emphasizing the EU and Japan’s commitment to supporting the operation and technical enhancements of JT-60SA to foster groundbreaking research outcomes.

Housed in a hangar in Naka north of Tokyo, the JT-60SA reactor is a six-story-high apparatus featuring a doughnut-shaped “tokamak” vessel designed to confine swirling plasma heated up to a staggering 200 million degrees Celsius.

Drawing parallels to the JT-60SA, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in France is its larger counterpart currently under construction. Both reactors aim to induce the fusion of hydrogen nuclei into a single heavier element, helium, thereby generating energy in the form of light and heat.

While JT-60SA has commenced operations successfully, the researchers at ITER are grappling with delays and substantial technical challenges, leading to budget overruns. Despite these setbacks, the goal remains achieving the pinnacle of nuclear fusion technology—net energy production.

Sam Davis, deputy project leader for JT-60SA, expressed optimism about the device’s role in advancing fusion energy, emphasizing the collaborative efforts of over 500 scientists, engineers, and 70 companies from Europe and Japan.

EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson lauded JT-60SA as the “most advanced tokamak in the world,” marking the initiation of operations as a significant milestone in fusion history. Simson asserted that fusion holds the potential to become a crucial component of the energy mix in the latter half of the century.