---
title: "Korean “Artificial Sun” Fusion Reactor Sets New World Record"
description: "Korea's fusion reactor set a world record, maintaining 100 million degrees for 20 seconds. Learn more about the South Korean artificial sun."
date: "2020-12-28"
modified: "2021-01-06"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/korean-artificial-sun-fusion-reactor-sets-world-record"
categories:
  - "Energy"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "fusion energy"
  - "fusion reactor"
  - "South Korea"
  - "the digest"
---

# Korean “Artificial Sun” Fusion Reactor Sets New World Record

![South Korea's fusion reactor just set a new world record, maintaining temperatures of over 100 million degrees for 20 long seconds.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/korean-artificial-sun-fusion-reactor-sets-world-record.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: KSTAR\</em\>*

## Hot Hot Hot

South Korea's fusion reactor [set a new world record](<https://phys.org/news/2020-12-korean-artificial-sun-world-sec-long.html>) this week, maintaining temperatures of over 100 million degrees, hotter than the core of the Sun, for 20 seconds. That's twice as long as the previously record.

The team behind the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) pulled it off with help from Seoul National University and Columbia University.

Director Si-Woo Yoon of the KSTAR Research Center called the achievement "an important turning point in the race for securing the technologies for the long high-performance plasma operation, a critical component of a commercial nuclear fusion reactor in the future."

## Fusion Cuisine

Making [fusion energy](<https://futurism.com/tags/fusion-energy>) a viable and sustainable source of renewable energy has proven challenging despite decades of research. Fusion reactions are notoriously difficult to control, as they can only occur at extremely high levels of pressure and temperature.

The ions and electrons inside the reactor can only sustain their plasma state required for the reaction to take place if these temperatures are maintained.

KSTAR has ambitious goals in mind for the reactor: maintaining 300 seconds at 100 million degrees in just five years.

**READ MORE:** [Korean artificial sun sets the new world record of 20-sec-long operation at 100 million degrees](<https://phys.org/news/2020-12-korean-artificial-sun-world-sec-long.html>) \[National Research Council of Science & Technology\]

**More on fusion:** *[China Just Powered Up Its “Artificial Sun” Fusion Reactor](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-artificial-sun-fusion-reactor>)*

## 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](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)