2024MilestoneEUROfusion · JET
JET sets new D-T fusion energy record before shutdown
Joint European Torus delivers 69 MJ of fusion energy in a single pulse, capping 40 years of operations.
Science & Tech · News Timeline
Three Decades of Fusion Breakthroughs
Every major scientific and technological milestone in commercial-fusion-relevant research since 1994. Explained at the depth you want.
Choose your reading level
All explanations below will rewrite to match.
2020s
4 breakthroughs2022IgnitionLLNL · NIF
NIF achieves fusion ignition — Q > 1 for the first time in history
192 lasers deliver 2.05 MJ to a D-T pellet and recover 3.15 MJ of fusion yield — net energy gain.
2021HardwareCFS · MIT PSFC
Commonwealth Fusion demonstrates 20-tesla HTS magnet
REBCO superconducting magnet hits 20 T at scale — the enabling technology for compact net-energy tokamaks.
2022PlasmaKSTAR
KSTAR sustains 100 million °C plasma for 30 seconds
Korean tokamak holds a fusion-relevant ion temperature 7× hotter than the Sun's core for half a minute.
2010s
3 breakthroughs2015StellaratorMax Planck · IPP
Wendelstein 7-X stellarator achieves first plasma
World's largest optimized stellarator switches on after 19 years and €1.06B of construction.
2018FundingPrivate Sector
Private fusion funding crosses $1B cumulative
TAE, Commonwealth, Helion and General Fusion lead a venture wave that re-prices the industry.
2010HardwareLLNL · NIF
National Ignition Facility completes commissioning
World's largest laser — 192 beams converging on a target the size of a peppercorn — goes operational.
2000s
3 breakthroughs2005PolicyITER · 7 Nations
ITER international agreement signed
EU, US, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea and India commit to a $25B+ joint fusion megaproject in Cadarache, France.
2006PlasmaEAST · China
EAST — China's first fully superconducting tokamak — achieves first plasma
Hefei facility opens the Chinese path to long-pulse fusion R&D and CFETR.
2001PlasmaJT-60U · Japan
JT-60U sets equivalent Q ≈ 1.25 record
Japanese tokamak demonstrates equivalent breakeven in D-D plasma, extrapolated to D-T.
1990s
2 breakthroughs1997MilestoneJET · EU
JET produces 16 MW of fusion power
Joint European Torus sets the magnetic-confinement world record with 16.1 MW in D-T plasma.
1994MilestoneTFTR · Princeton
TFTR achieves 10.7 MW fusion power with D-T plasma
Princeton's Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor produces the first significant fusion power in the U.S.
Go deeper
Want the full technical primer?
Our long-form review covers the Lawson criterion, magnetic vs inertial confinement, fuel cycles and alternative approaches — with equations, tables and citations.