A Canadian nuclear fusion company has achieved what it called a “historic” compressional plasma heating result with its large-scale Lawson Machine 26 (LM26) demonstration machine.

Using magnetised target fusion (MTF), General Fusion reached electron temperatures exceeding 12 million °C, which is more than one kiloelectron volt (keV). A keV is a unit of energy commonly used in atomic and nuclear physics.

Only a few fusion companies have surpassed the industry-recognised milestone of 1 keV, all using other fusion approaches. This “world-first” result for General Fusion’s MTF approach marks a measurable step forward for the company in its aim to deliver baseload, economical clean power from fusion energy, a statement said.