China’s Hefei Institutes of Physical Science has claimed a new world record for maintaining a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation, a feat needed to create a fusion reactor that in theory will produce vast amounts of energy at little cost.

The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) – also called ‘artificial sun’ – has achieved the milestone of 1,006 seconds of operations for sustained plasma temperature above 180 million degrees Fahrenheit (100 million degrees Celsius).

Latest ‘artificial sun’ test shows researchers now capable of simulating operational environment of a future fusion power plant, experts say.

The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation.

The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu)

A nuclear fusion reactor in China, dubbed the "artificial sun," has broken its own record to bring humanity one step closer to near-limitless clean energy.