EAST sustains H-mode plasma for 1,066 seconds — new world record
Hefei-based superconducting tokamak nearly triples its previous endurance benchmark.
The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Sciences sustained an H-mode plasma discharge for 1,066 seconds — nearly three times its previous record of 403 seconds set in early 2025.
H-mode, or high-confinement mode, is the operational regime required for reactor-grade plasmas. Sustaining it for nearly 18 minutes pushes EAST into a domain previously accessible only in modeling studies, with implications for both ITER operations planning and for China's domestic CFETR programme.
Institute director Song Yuntao said the run was conducted at temperatures above 70 million °C with full superconducting field operation. EAST has been the principal long-pulse fusion test bed since its commissioning in 2006.
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