Scientists in Germany said Thursday they had reached a milestone in a quest to derive energy from nuclear fusion, billed as a potentially limitless, safe and cheap source.
Nuclear fusion entails fusing atoms together to generate energy—a process similar to that in the Sun—as opposed to nuclear fission, where atoms are split, which entails worries over safety and long-term waste.
After spending a billion euros ($1.1 billion) and nine years' construction work, physicists working on a German project called the "stellarator" said they had briefly generated a super-heated helium plasma inside a vessel—a key point in the experimental process.
"We're very satisfied," said Hans-Stephan Bosch at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald.
"Everything went according to plan."
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