Princeton University's experimental fusion reactor set another world record by generating 10.7 million watts of power, considered a crucial step toward developing new commercial fusion reactors, officials said Saturday.
The one-second burst of energy - enough to momentarily power 2,000 to 3,000 homes - was "a major milestone," laboratory director Ronald C. Davidson told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.In May, the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) produced 9.2 million watts of energy, according to lab spokesman Tony DeMeo.
"The TFTR team has demonstrated successful use of practical fusion fuels, exceeded fusion power goals, and reached world-record temperatures," Davidson said.
Lab officials will present the results Monday in Minneapolis, at the annual meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics of the American Physical Society.
Fusion, the process that powers the sun, occurs when special forms of lightweight atoms such as hydrogen gas are slammed together at very high temperatures and fuse, releasing energy. Fission, which powers existing commercial nuclear reactors, involves breaking apart very heavy atoms such as uranium but produces far more dangerous radioactive byproducts than fusion.
The TFTR, designed in 1976, was intended to produce 10 million watts of power. The reactor set the first world record in December when it produced the equivalent of 6.4 million watts of power.
"The better information that we can provide as input to the design of these facilities, the better their design will be, and the sooner (practical) fusion will be developed and the more attractive the power source will be," Davidson said.