General Fusion achieves world-first plasma heating milestone

General Fusion, in collaboration with the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), has achieved a significant milestone in nuclear fusion technology. Using its large-scale Lawson Machine 26 (LM26) demonstration device, the company successfully reached electron temperatures exceeding 12 million degrees Celsius (more than 1 keV) through magnetized target fusion (MTF).

This achievement marks a world-first for compressional plasma heating using this specific method. The results were verified using both Thomson scattering and absolute extreme ultraviolet (AXUV) diagnostics, accompanied by meaningful ion heating. This success represents the first of three key technical milestones for the LM26 program.

The company’s MTF approach aims to provide economical clean power by avoiding the need for superconducting magnets or high-powered lasers, instead utilizing a liquid metal wall to enhance machine durability. The next major technical goal for the LM26 program is to achieve compressional heating to 10 keV.