--- title: "Japan Finishes World’s Largest Fusion Reactor" description: "Japan has officially inaugurated the world's biggest experimental nuclear fusion reactor called JT-60SA just north of Tokyo." date: "2023-12-06" modified: "2023-12-06" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/japan-worlds-largest-fusion-reactor" categories: - "Energy" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "fusion energy" - "fusion reactor" - "the digest" - "tokamak" --- # Japan Finishes World’s Largest Fusion Reactor ![Japan has officially inaugurated the world's biggest experimental nuclear fusion reactor called JT-60SA just north of Tokyo.]() *\Image: National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology\* ## Blowing Fusion Japan has [officially inaugurated]() the world's biggest experimental nuclear fusion reactor. The reactor, dubbed JT-60SA, represents the latest testbed for a potentially transformative source of renewable energy harvested from atoms fusing together under immense pressure and incredibly high temperatures — without risking a nuclear meltdown. But despite almost a century of fusion research, we've only been able to make small, incremental steps towards achieving the "holy grail" of producing a meaningful amount of net positive energy. Whether this grand new facility will make any strides toward a practical solution is anyone's guess. ## Smash of Clans Japan's latest reactor is six stories high and can heat plasma to a blistering 360 million degrees Fahrenheit inside its donut-shaped "tokamak" chamber. It's meant to lay the groundwork for the even larger International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), which is [currently being constructed]() in France. As [*Agence France-Presse* reports](), ITER is already well over budget and technical problems are delaying its development significantly. Despite these setbacks, scientists are eager to give the JT-60SA reactor, a Japan-European Union collaboration, a whirl. "It's the result of a collaboration between more than 500 scientists and engineers and more than 70 companies throughout Europe and Japan," said Sam Davis, deputy project leader for the JT-60SA, during the inauguration last week. Despite plenty of [disappointing results]() and setbacks over the years, it's an exciting time for fusion energy. The inauguration comes after researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory [claimed]() to have produced a net energy gain using the "[world's largest and highest energy laser system]()," a fusion reactor that works very differently from both ITER and JT-60SA. In August, the team [claimed]() it had achieved the feat for a second time. However, the jury is still out on whether these experiments actually represent a major breakthrough, as the results have yet to be thoroughly vetted by outside experts. Whether JT-60SA, or its much larger sibling, will finally be able to demonstrate that fusing atoms can represent a sea change in our efforts to power the world with renewable energy remains to be seen as well. **More on fusion:** *[Microsoft Signs Deal to Get Fusion Power by 2028]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()