KFE operates KSTAR, the superconducting tokamak that has redefined long-pulse plasma performance, and leads South Korea's plan to build a demonstration fusion power plant by the 2040s.
The Korea Institute of Fusion Energy, established as an independent research institute in 2020 after evolving from programs within the Korea Basic Science Institute and the National Fusion Research Institute, is the central organization for fusion energy development in South Korea. Headquartered in Daejeon, KFE operates the nation's flagship fusion experiment and leads the engineering roadmap toward a Korean demonstration reactor. The institute's elevation to independent status reflected the South Korean government's growing strategic commitment to fusion as a long-term energy source.1
KSTAR achieved first plasma in 2008 and has since become one of the most scientifically productive tokamaks in the world. Its fully superconducting magnet system — using niobium-tin for the toroidal field coils and niobium-titanium for the poloidal field coils — generates a toroidal field of 3.5 T and supports plasma currents up to 2 MA in a device with major radius 1.8 m and minor radius 0.5 m.
The device's engineering quality is exceptional: KSTAR's magnetic field errors are among the lowest of any tokamak, enabling clean studies of plasma stability and transport without the confounding effects of field asymmetries. This precision has made KSTAR a preferred platform for international collaborative experiments on topics from edge-localized mode control to runaway electron mitigation.2
KSTAR's research program has delivered results with direct bearing on ITER and reactor design. The device demonstrated reliable suppression of edge-localized modes using resonant magnetic perturbation coils — a technique that ITER plans to employ for protecting its first wall. Long-pulse experiments have progressively extended high-confinement operation into the regime where real-time control of plasma profiles, divertor detachment, and impurity transport become essential for sustained performance.
Diagnostic development at KSTAR has been equally notable. The device hosts an advanced suite of microwave, laser, and spectroscopic diagnostics, including an electron cyclotron emission imaging system that produces two-dimensional movies of temperature fluctuations — a capability that has revealed fine-scale instability structures invisible to conventional diagnostics.3
KFE leads South Korea's conceptual design for K-DEMO, a demonstration fusion power plant intended to generate net electricity and validate the full fuel cycle including tritium breeding. Current design parameters envision a superconducting tokamak with major radius in the range of 6.5 to 7.0 m, producing 2,200 to 3,000 MW of fusion power with a target net electrical output of several hundred megawatts. The project timeline, aligned with Korea's national fusion energy development plan, targets construction beginning around 2037 and first operation in the mid-2040s.4
KFE contributes to ITER through Korea's Domestic Agency, supplying major components including thermal shield assemblies, blanket shield blocks, and diagnostic systems. The institute maintains extensive bilateral agreements with fusion programs in the United States, European Union, Japan, and China, and its researchers hold leadership positions in international working groups under the ITER Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency. KSTAR's operational availability and high data quality have made it a facility of choice for joint experiments coordinated through the International Tokamak Physics Activity.5