Chinese scientists say they have achieved a new milestone in the pursuit of viable power generation through nuclear fusion.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) was quoted by China’s state media as saying its pioneering experimental nuclear reactor, dubbed the “artificial Sun”, maintained a steady, highly confined loop of plasma – the high-energy fourth state of matter – for 1,066 seconds on 20 January.

The reactor, officially known as the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (East), beat its previous record operating time of 403 seconds, set in April 2023, CAS said.