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Thistimeline of nuclear fusion is an incomplete chronological summary of significant events in the study and use ofnuclear fusion.

• 1920
  • Based onF.W. Aston's measurements of the masses of low-mass elements andEinstein's discovery that${\displaystyle E=m{c}^2}$,Arthur Eddington proposes that large amounts of energy released byfusing small nuclei together provides the energy source that powers the stars.^[1]
  • Henry Norris Russell notes that the relationship in theHertzsprung–Russell diagram suggests a hot core rather than burning throughout the star. Eddington uses this to calculate that the core would have to be about 40 million Kelvin. This was a matter of some debate at the time, because the value is much higher than what observations suggest, which is about one-third to one-half that value.
• 1928
  • George Gamow introduces the mathematical basis forquantum tunnelling.^[2]
• 1929
  • Atkinson andHoutermans provide the first calculations of the rate of nuclear fusion in stars. Based on Gamow's tunnelling, they show fusion can occur at lower energies than previously believed. When used with Eddington's calculations of the required fusion rates in stars, their calculations demonstrate this would occur at the lower temperatures that Eddington had calculated.^[3]

• 1932
  • Ernest Rutherford'sCavendish Laboratory atCambridge University begins nuclear experiments with aparticle accelerator built byJohn Cockcroft andErnest Walton.^[4]
  • In April, Walton produces the first man-madenuclear disintegration by usingprotons from the accelerator to splitlithium intoalpha particles. They discover the intermediary creation of the extremely short-livedberyllium-8 isotope.This could be considered the first artificial fusion.^[4]
• 1934
  • Using an updated version of the equipment firing deuterium rather than hydrogen,Mark Oliphant discoveredhelium-3 andtritium, and that heavyhydrogen nuclei could be made to react with each other.This is considered the first artificial fusion.^[5]
• 1937
  • George Gamow andCarl Friedrich von Weizsäcker suggestproton combination into deuterium may be the source of stellar energy.^[6]
• 1938
  • In March,Hans Bethe attends theCarnegie Institute andGeorge Washington University's fourth annualWashington Conference on Theoretical Physics onEdward Teller's insistence. He works withCharles Critchfield to derive stellar nuclear reactions beyond the proton combination into deuterium. They publish two reactions based on the incorrect assumption tritium is more stable, and four reactions based on the correct assumption helium-3 is more stable, thereby discovering theproton–proton chain.^[7]
  • Kantrowitz and Jacobs of theNACALangley Research Center built a toroidalmagnetic bottle and heat the plasma with a 150 W radio source. Hoping to heat the plasma to millions of degrees, the system fails and they are forced to abandon theirDiffusion Inhibitor.^[8]This is the first attempt to make a working fusion reactor.
• 1939
  • Peter Thonemann develops a detailed plan for apinch device, but is told to do other work for his thesis.^[8]
  • Hans Bethe publishes the discovery of thecarbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle in higher mass stars.^[9] Along with the proton-proton chain, this work results in the 1967Nobel Prize for Physics.^[10]

• 1945
  • TheSmyth Report, detailing the history of fission research and theManhattan Project, briefly refers to Bethe's discovery of theCNO cycle and the eventual possibility of laboratory fusion, without using the word "fusion".^[11]
• 1946
  • George Paget Thomson ofImperial College, London designs thetoroidal solenoid, a simple fusion device. WithMoses Blackman, he further develops the concept and files for a patent.This becomes the first fusion device to receive a patent.^[12] Repeated attempts to get development funding fail.
• 1947
  • A meeting atHarwell on the topic of fusion raises new concerns with the concept. On his return to London, Thomson gets graduate studentsJames L. Tuck andAlan Alfred Ware to build a prototype device out of old radar parts.^[13]
  • Peter Thonemann comes up with a similar idea, but uses a different method of heating the fuel. This seems much more practical and finally gains the mild interest of the UK nuclear establishment. Not aware of who he is talking to, Thonemann describes the concept to Thomson, who adopts the same concept.^[13]
  • Herbert Skinner begins to write a lengthy report on the entire fusion concept, pointing out several areas of little or no knowledge.^[13]
• 1948
  • TheMinistry of Supply (MoS) asks Thomson about the status of his patent filing, and he describes the problems he has getting funding. The MoS forces Harwell to provide some money, and Thomson releases his rights to the patent. It is granted late that year.^[13]
  • Skinner publishes his report, calling for some experimental effort to explore the areas of concern. Along with the MoS's calls for funding of Thomson, this event marks the beginning of formal fusion research in the UK.^[13]

• 1950
  • In January,Klaus Fuchs admits to passing nuclear secrets to theSoviet Union. Almost all nuclear research in the UK, including the fledgling fusion program, is immediately classified. Thomson, until this time working at Imperial University, is moved to theAtomic Weapons Research Establishment.
  • Thetokamak, a type ofmagnetic confinement fusion device, was proposed by Soviet scientistsAndrei Sakharov andIgor Tamm.

    

• 1951
  • Edward Teller andStanislaw Ulam atLos Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) develop theTeller-Ulam design for thethermonuclear weapon, allowing for the development of multi-megaton weapons.
  • A press release fromArgentina claims that theirHuemul Project had produced controlled nuclear fusion. This prompted a wave of responses in other countries, especially the U.S.
    • Lyman Spitzer dismisses the Argentinian claims, but while thinking about it comes up with thestellarator concept. Funding is arranged under Project Matterhorn and develops into thePrinceton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
    • Tuck introduces the British pinch work to LANL. He develops thePerhapsatron under the codenameProject Sherwood. The project name is a play on his name via Friar Tuck.^[14]
    • Richard F. Post presents hismagnetic mirror concept and also receives initial funding, eventually moving toLawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).
    • In the UK, repeated requests for more funding that had previously been turned down are suddenly approved. Within a short time, three separate efforts are started, one at Harwell and two atAtomic Weapons Establishment (Aldermaston). Early planning for a much larger machine at Harwell begins.
    • Using the Huemul release as leverage, Soviet researchers find their funding proposals rapidly approved. Work on linear pinch machines begins that year.
  • On May 9, the American nuclear testGreenhouse George, the first of aboosted fission weapon, yields 255 kilotons from anenriched uranium core anddeuterium-tritium gas.This is the artificial thermonuclear fusion, and the first weaponization of fusion energy.^[15]
  • Experimental research of toroidal magnetic confinement systems starts at theKurchatov Institute,Moscow, led by a group of Soviet scientists led byLev Artsimovich. Device chambers are constructed from glass, porcelain, or metal. Their largest device, TMP, uses a porcelain chamber with metal spirals.^[16]

• 1952
  • On November 1, the United States conducts theIvy Mike shot ofOperation Ivy,the first detonation of ahydrogen bomb, yields 10.4 megatons of TNT out of a fusion fuel of liquid deuterium.
  • Cousins and Ware build a larger toroidalpinch device in England and demonstrated that the plasma in pinch devices is inherently unstable.
• 1953
  • The first Soviet fusion bomb test,RDS-6s, American codename "Joe 4", demonstrated the first fission/fusion/fission "layercake" design, limited below the megaton range, with less than 20% of the yield coming directly from fusion. It was quickly superseded by theTeller-Ulam design. This wasthe first aerial drop of a fusion weapon.
  • Linear pinch devices in the US and USSR report detections ofneutrons, an indication of fusion reactions. Both are later explained as coming from instabilities in the fuel, and are non-fusion in nature.
  • Scientists at thePrinceton Plasma Physics Laboratory construct Model A,the first operational stellarator.^[17]
• 1954
  • Early planning for the largeZETA device at Harwell begins. The name is a take-off onsmall experimental fission reactors which often had "zero energy" in their name,ZEEP being an example.
  • Edward Teller gives a now-famous speech on plasma stability in magnetic bottles at the Princeton Gun Club. His work suggests that most magnetic bottles are inherently unstable, outlining what is today known as theinterchange instability.
• 1955
  • At the firstAtoms for Peace meeting in Geneva,Homi J. Bhabha predicts that fusion will be in commercial use within two decades. This prompts a number of countries to begin fusion research;Japan,France, andSweden all start programs this year or the next.
  • Scientists in the Soviet Union achievethe first fusion via a purely chemical explosive-driven implosion, using spherical shock waves to compress a${\displaystyle {\text{UD}}_2^{}\text{T}}$ target.^[18]
• 1956
  • Construction of ZETA begins at Harwell.
  • Igor Kurchatov gives a talk at Harwell on pinch devices,^[19] revealing for the first time that the USSR is also working on fusion. He details the problems they are seeing, mirroring those in the US and UK.
  • In August, a number of articles on plasma physics appear in various Soviet journals.
  • In the wake of the Kurchatov's speech, the US and UK begin to consider releasing their own data. Eventually, they settle on a release prior to the 2ndAtoms for Peace conference inGeneva in 1958.
  • On May 27, the United States conducts the Zuni test ofOperation Redwing with aMk-41 bomb,the first test of a three-stage hydrogen bomb.

    

• 1957
  • In the US, atLANL,Scylla I^[20] begins operation using the θ-pinch design.
  • ZETA is completed in the summer, it will be the largest fusion machine for a decade.
  • In August, initial results on ZETA appear to suggest the machine has successfully reached basic fusion temperatures. UK researchers start pressing for public release, while the US demurs.
  • Scientists at the AEI Research laboratory in Harwell reported that theSceptre III plasma column remained stable for 300 to 400 microseconds, a dramatic improvement on previous efforts. Working backward, the team calculated that the plasma had an electrical resistivity around 100 times that of copper, and was able to carry 200 kA of current for 500 microseconds in total.

    

• 1958
  • In January, the US and UK release large amounts of data, with the ZETA team claiming fusion. Other researchers, notably Artsimovich and Spitzer, are sceptical.
  • In May, a series of new tests demonstrate the measurements on ZETA were erroneous, and the claims of fusion have to be retracted.
  • American, British andSoviet scientists began to share previously classified controlled fusion research as part of theAtoms for Peace conference inGeneva in September. It is the largest international scientific meeting to date. It becomes clear that basic pinch concepts are not successful and that no device has yet created fusion at any level.
  • Scylla demonstratesthe first controlled thermonuclear fusion in any laboratory,^[21][22] although confirmation came too late to be announced at Geneva. Thisθ-pinch approach will ultimately be abandoned as calculations show it cannot scale up to produce a reactor.
  • TheKurchatov Institute constructs its first toroidal device with an all-metal chamber, T-1, considered to bethe first operational tokamak.^[23]

• 1960
  • After considering the concept for some time,John Nuckolls publishes the concept ofinertial confinement fusion. Thelaser, introduced the same year, appears to be a suitable "driver".
• 1961
  • TheSoviet Union test theTsar Bomba (50 megatons), the most powerfulthermonuclear weapon ever.
• 1964
  • Plasma temperatures of approximately 40 million degrees Celsius and a few billion deuteron-deuteron fusion reactions per discharge were achieved atLANL with theScylla IV device.^[24]
• 1965
  • At an international meeting at the UK's new fusion research centre in Culham, the Soviets release early results showing greatly improved performance in toroidal pinch machines. The announcement is met by scepticism, especially by the UK team whose ZETA was largely identical. Spitzer, chairing the meeting, essentially dismisses it out of hand.
  • At the same meeting, odd results from the ZETA machine are published. It will be years before the significance of these results are realized.
  • By the end of the meeting, it is clear that most fusion efforts have stalled. All of the major designs, including thestellarator, pinch machines andmagnetic mirrors are all losing plasma at rates that are simply too high to be useful in a reactor setting. Less-known designs like thelevitron andastron are faring no better.
  • The 12-beam "4 pi laser" using ruby as the lasing medium is developed atLawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) includes a gas-filled target chamber of about 20 centimeters in diameter.
• 1967
  • Demonstration ofFarnsworth-Hirsch Fusor appeared to generate neutrons in a nuclear reaction.
  • Hans Bethe wins the 1967Nobel Prize in Physics for his publication on how fusion powers the stars in work of 1939.^[25]
  • KMS Industries, later renamedKMS Fusion, is founded inAnn Arbor, Michigan and became the world's first company to work to develop inertial confinement fusion power. Closed in 1990, their work was moved toGeneral Atomics.^[26]
• 1968
  • Robert L. Hirsch is hired byAmasa Bishop of theAtomic Energy Commission as staff physicist. Hirsch would eventually end up running the fusion program during the 1970s.
  • Further results from the T-3tokamak, similar to the toroidal pinch machine mentioned in 1965, claims temperatures to be over an order of magnitude higher than any other device. The Western scientists remain highly sceptical.
  • The Soviets invite a UK team from ZETA to perform independent measurements on T-3.
• 1969
  • The UK team, nicknamed "The Culham Five", confirm the Soviet results early in the year. They publish their results in October's edition ofNature. This leads to a "veritable stampede" of tokamak construction around the world.
  • After learning of the Culham Five's results in August, a furious debate breaks out in the US establishment over whether or not to build a tokamak. After initially pooh-poohing the concept, the Princeton group eventually decides to convert their stellarator to a tokamak.
  • TheKurchatov Institute detects neutrons from deuterium plasma in their T-3A tokamak, markingthe first fusion in a tokamak device.^[27]

• 1970
  • Princeton's conversion of theModel C stellarator to theSymmetrical Tokamak is completed, and tests match and then best the Soviet results. With an apparent solution to the magnetic bottle problem in-hand, plans begin for a larger machine to test the scaling and various methods to heat the plasma.
  • Kapchinskii and Teplyakov introduce aparticle accelerator for heavy ions that appear suitable as an ICF driver in place of lasers.
• 1972
  • The first neodymium-doped glass (Nd:glass) laser for ICF research, the "Long Path laser" is completed at LLNL and is capable of delivering ~50 joules to a fusion target.
• 1973
  • Design work onJET, the Joint European Torus, begins.
  • TheKurchatov Institute begins development of T-8 and T-9, investing non-circular tokamak cross-sections such as the T-8's D-shaped design.^[23]
• 1974
  • J.B. Taylor re-visited ZETA results of 1958 and explained that the quiet-period was in fact very interesting. This led to the development ofreversed field pinch, now generalised as "self-organising plasmas", an ongoing line of research.
  • KMS Fusion, a private-sector company, builds an ICF reactor using laser drivers. Despite limited resources and numerous business problems, KMS successfully compresses fuel in December 1973, and on 1 May 1974 successfully demonstrates theworld's first laser-induced fusion. Neutron-sensitive nuclear emulsion detectors, developed by Nobel Prize winnerRobert Hofstadter, were used to provide evidence of this discovery.
  • Beams using mature high-energy accelerator technology are hailed as the elusive "brand-X" driver capable of producing fusion implosions for commercial power. TheLivingston Curve, which illustrates the improvement in power ofparticle accelerators over time, is modified to show the energy needed for fusion to occur. Experiments commence on the single beam LLNLCyclops laser, testing new optical designs for future ICF lasers.
• 1975
  • ThePrinceton Large Torus (PLT), the follow-on to the Symmetrical Tokamak, begins operation. It soon surpasses the best Soviet machines and sets several temperature records that are above what is needed for a commercial reactor. PLT continues to set records until it is decommissioned.
• 1976
  • Workshop, called by the US-ERDA (now DoE) at the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, CA for an ad-hoc two-week summer study. Fifty senior scientists from the major US ICF programs and accelerator laboratories participated, with program heads and Nobel laureates also attending. In the closing address, Dr. C. Martin Stickley, then Director of US-ERDA's Office of Inertial Fusion, announced the conclusion was "no showstoppers" on the road to fusion energy.
  • The two beamArgus laser is completed at LLNL and experiments involving more advanced laser-target interactions commence.
  • Based on the continued success of the PLT, the DOE selects a larger Princeton design for further development. Initially designed simply to test a commercial-sized tokamak, the DOE team instead gives them the explicit goal of running on a deuterium-tritium fuel as opposed to test fuels like hydrogen or deuterium. The project is given the nameTokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR).
  • TheKurchatov Institute builds the TO-2,the first tokamak with adivertor, using a toroidal configuration which would soon be superseded by poloidal divertors.^[28]
• 1977
  • The 20 beamShiva laser at LLNL is completed, capable of delivering 10.2 kilojoules of infrared energy on target. At a price of $25 million and a size approaching that of a football field, the Shiva laser is the first of the "megalasers" at LLNL and brings the field of ICF research fully within the realm of "big science".
  • TheJET project is given the go-ahead by theEC, choosing the UK's center at Culham as its site.

• 1978
  • As PLT continues to set new records, Princeton is given additional funding to adapt TFTR with the explicit goal of reaching breakeven.
  • TheKurchatov Institute builds the T-7,the first full-scale tokamak to use superconducting coils, using an${\displaystyle \text{NbTi}}$ alloy.^[23][28]
• 1979
  • LANL successfully demonstrates the radio frequency quadrupole accelerator (RFQ).
  • ANL and Hughes Research Laboratories demonstrate required ion source brightness with xenon beam at 1.5MeV.
  • The Foster Panel report to US-DoE's Energy Research and advisory board on ICF concludes thatheavy ion fusion (HIF) is the "conservative approach" to ICF. Listing HIF's advantages in his report, John Foster remarked: "...now that is kind of exciting." After DoE Office of Inertial Fusion completed review of programs, Director Gregory Canavan decides to accelerate the HIF effort.

• 1980
  • Scientists in the Soviet Union reportthe first conical target fusion, produced by the impact of a metal projectile containing deuterium, accelerated by chemical explosives to 5.4 km/s.^[29]
• 1982
  • HIBALL study by German and US institutions,^[30] Garching uses the high repetition rate of the RF accelerator driver to serve four reactor chambers and first-wall protection using liquid lithium inside the chamber cavity.
  • Tore Supra construction starts atCadarache, France. Itssuperconducting magnets will permit it to generate a strong permanent toroidal magnetic field.^[31]
  • high-confinement mode (H-mode) discovered in tokamaks.
• 1983
  • Joint European Torus, the largest operational magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment is completed on time and on budget. First plasmas achieved.
  • TheNOVETTE laser at LLNL comes on line and is used as a test bed for the next generation of ICF lasers, specifically theNOVA laser.
• 1984
  • The huge 10 beamNOVA laser at LLNL is completed and switches on in December. NOVA would ultimately produce a maximum of 120 kilojoules of infrared laser light during a nanosecond pulse in a 1989 experiment.
• 1985
  • National Academy of Sciences reviewed military ICF programs, noting HIF's major advantages clearly but averring that HIF was "supported primarily by other [than military] programs". The review of ICF by the National Academy of Sciences marked the trend with the observation: "The energy crisis is dormant for the time being."^[32] Energy becomes the sole purpose of heavy ion fusion.
  • The Japanese tokamak,JT-60 completed. First plasmas achieved.
• 1988
  • TheT-15, Soviet tokamak with superconducting helium-cooled coils completed.
  • The Conceptual Design Activity for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the successor toT-15,TFTR,JET andJT-60, begins.^[33] Participants includeEURATOM, Japan, theSoviet Union and United States. It ended in 1990.
  • The first plasma produced atTore Supra in April.^[34]
• 1989
  • On March 23, twoUtah electrochemists,Stanley Pons andMartin Fleischmann, announced that they had achievedcold fusion: fusion reactions which could occur at room temperatures. However, they made their announcements before any peer review of their work was performed, and no subsequent experiments by other researchers revealed any evidence of fusion.

• 1990
  • Decision to construct theNational Ignition Facility "beamlet" laser at LLNL is made.
• 1991
  • TheSTART Tokamak fusion experiment begins inCulham. The experiment would eventually achieve a recordbeta (plasma pressure compared to magnetic field pressure) of 40% using aneutral beam injector. It was the first design that adapted the conventional toroidal fusion experiments into a tighter spherical design.
  • TheJT-60 tokamak was upgraded toJT-60U in March.^[35]
  • On November 9, theJET tokamak achievesthe first 50-50 mix deuterium-tritium fusion experiments via magnetic confinement.^[36]
• 1992
  • The Engineering Design Activity for theITER starts with participantsEURATOM, Japan, Russia and United States. It ended in 2001.
  • The United States and the former republics of the Soviet Union cease nuclear weapons testing.
• 1993
  • TheTFTR tokamak atPrinceton (PPPL) experiments with a 50%deuterium, 50%tritium mix, eventually producing as much as 10 megawatts of power from a controlled fusion reaction.
• 1994
  • NIF Beamlet laser is completed and begins experiments validating the expected performance of NIF.^{[citation needed]}
  • The USA declassifies information about indirectly driven (hohlraum) target design.^{[citation needed]}
  • Comprehensive European-based study of HIF driver begins, centered at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) and involving 14 laboratories, including USA and Russia. The Heavy Ion Driven Inertial Fusion (HIDIF) study will be completed in 1997.^{[citation needed]}
• 1996
  • A record is reached atTore Supra: a plasma duration of two minutes with a current of almost 1 million amperes driven non-inductively by 2.3 MW oflower hybrid frequency waves (i.e. 280 MJ of injected and extracted energy). This result was possible due to the actively cooled plasma-facing components installed in the machine.^[37]
  • On 31 October, theJT-60U tokamak achievesthe firstextrapolated breakeven atQ_DT^eq = 1.05.
  • TheComprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is signed, ending weapons testing by almost all nuclear states. ICF experiments and supercomputer simulation gain funding under the USScience-Based Stockpile Stewardship and similar programs.
• 1997
  • TheJET tokamak in the UK produces 16 MW of fusion power - this remains the world record for fusion power until 2022 when JET sets an even higher record. Four megawatts ofalpha particle self-heating was achieved.
  • LLNL study compared projected costs of power from ICF and other fusion approaches to the projected future costs of existing energy sources.
  • National Ignition Facility: Groundbreaking ceremony
• 1998
  • TheJT-60U tokamak achieves anextrapolated breakeven ofQ_DT^eq = 1.25, the current world record.
  • Results of European-based study of heavy ion driven fusion power system (HIDIF, GSI-98-06) incorporates telescoping beams of multiple isotopic species. This technique multiplies the 6-D phase space usable for the design of HIF drivers.^{[citation needed]}
• 1999
  • The United States withdraws from theITER project.
  • TheSTART experiment is succeeded byMAST.

• 2001
  • National Ignition Facility: Facility construction completed, laser construction begins
  • Negotiations on the Joint Implementation ofITER begin between Canada, countries represented by theEuropean Union, Japan and Russia.
• 2002
  • Claims and counter-claims are published regardingbubble fusion, in which a table-top apparatus was reported as producing small-scale fusion in a liquid undergoingacoustic cavitation. Like cold fusion (see 1989), it is later dismissed.
  • European Union proposesCadarache in France andVandellos in Spain as candidate sites forITER while Japan proposesRokkasho.
• 2003
  • The United States rejoins theITER project with China andRepublic of Korea also joining. Canada withdraws.
  • Cadarache in France is selected as the European Candidate Site forITER.
  • In April,Sandia National Laboratories'Z machine produces its first DD fusion neutrons.^[38]
  • National Ignition Facility: First laser pulse (10.4 kJ IR, 4 beams).
• 2004
  • The United States drops its own ITER-scale tokamak project,FIRE, recognising an inability to match EU progress.^[39]
• 2005
  • In August,the firstproton-boron fusion via inertial confinement is reported.^[40]
  • Following final negotiations between the EU and Japan,ITER choosesCadarache overRokkasho for the site of the reactor. In concession, Japan is able to host the related materials research facility and granted rights to fill 20% of the project's research posts while providing 10% of the funding.
  • National Ignition Facility: First eight-beam laser pulse (152.8 kJ IR). It becomes the world's largest laser.
• 2006
  • China'sExperimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak is completed, thefirst tokamak to toroidal and poloidal superconducting magnets.
• 2009
  • National Ignition Facility: On February 26, all 192 beams are fired for the first time.
  • National Ignition Facility: In June, the first laser shots are fired into a hohlraum.
  • Ricardo Betti, the third Under Secretary, responsible for Nuclear Energy, testifies before Congress: "IFE [ICF for energy production] has no home".

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• 2010
  • HIF-2010 Symposium in Darmstadt, Germany. Robert J Burke presented on Single Pass (Heavy Ion Fusion) HIF and Charles Helsley made a presentation on the commercialization of HIF within the decade.
• 2011
  • May 23–26, Workshop for Accelerators for Heavy Ion Fusion at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, presentation by Robert J. Burke on "Single Pass Heavy Ion Fusion". The Accelerator Working Group publishes recommendations supporting moving RF accelerator driven HIF toward commercialization.^[41]
• 2012
  • Stephen Slutz & Roger Vesey of Sandia National Labs publish a paper in Physical Review Letters presenting a computer simulation of theMagLIF concept showing it can produce high gain. According to the simulation, a 70 Mega Amp Z-pinch facility in combination with a Laser may be able to produce a spectacular energy return of 1000 times the expended energy. A 60 MA facility would produce a 100x yield.^[42]
  • JET announces a major breakthrough in controlling instabilities in a fusion plasma.One step closer to controlling nuclear fusion
  • In August Robert J. Burke presents updates to theSPRFDHIF process^[43] and Charles Helsley presents the Economics of SPRFD^[44] at the 19th International HIF Symposium atBerkeley, California. Industry was there in support of ion generation for SPRFD. The Fusion Power Corporation SPRFD patent is granted in Russia.
• 2013
  • China'sEAST tokamak test reactor achieves a record confinement time of 30 seconds for plasma in thehigh-confinement mode (H-mode), thanks to improvements in heat dispersal from tokamak walls. This is an improvement of an order of magnitude with respect to state-of-the-art reactors.^[45]
  • Construction ofJT-60SA begins in January.
• 2014
  • US Scientists atNIF successfully generate more energy from fusion reactions than the energy absorbed by the nuclear fuel.^[46]
  • Phoenix Nuclear Labs announces the sale of a high-yield neutron generator that could sustain 5×10¹¹deuterium fusion reactions per second over a 24-hour period.^[47]
  • On 9 October 2014, fusion research bodies from European Union member states and Switzerland signed an agreement to cement European collaboration on fusion research and EUROfusion, the European Consortium for the Development of Fusion Energy, was born.^[48]
• 2015
  • Germany conducts the first plasma discharge inWendelstein 7-X, a large-scale stellarator capable of steady-state plasma confinement under fusion conditions.^[49]
  • In January thepolywell is presented atMicrosoft Research.^[50]
  • In August,MIT announces theARC fusion reactor, a compact tokamak usingrare-earth barium-copper oxide (REBCO) superconducting tapes to produce high-magnetic field coils that it claims produce comparable magnetic field strength in a smaller configuration than other designs.^[51]
• 2016
  • The Wendelstein 7-X produces the device's first hydrogen plasma.^[52]
• 2017
  • China'sEAST tokamak test reactor achieves a stable 101.2-second steady-state high confinement plasma, setting a world record in long-pulse H-mode operation on the night of July 3.^[53]
  • Helion Energy's fifth-generation plasma machine goes into operation, seeking to achieve plasma density of 20 Tesla and fusion temperatures.^[54]
  • UK companyTokamak Energy's ST40 fusion reactor generates first plasma.^[55]
  • TAE Technologies announces that the Norman reactor had achieved plasma.^[56]
  • On March 7, Japan'sLarge Helical Device completes its first deuterium plasma experiment, markingthe first fusion in a stellarator device.^[57]
• 2018
  • Energy corporationEni announces a $50 million investment in start-upCommonwealth Fusion Systems, to commercializeARC technology via theSPARC test reactor in collaboration with MIT.^[58][59][60]
  • MIT scientists formulate a theoretical means to remove the excess heat from compact nuclear fusion reactors via larger and longerdivertors.^[61]
  • General Fusion begins developing a 70% scale demo system to be completed around 2023.^[54]
  • TAE Technologies announces its reactor has reached a high temperature of nearly 20 million °C.^[62]
  • The Fusion Industry Association founded as an initiative in 2018, is the unified voice of the fusion industry, working to transform the energy system with commercially viable fusion power.^[63]
• 2019
  • The United Kingdom announces a planned £200-million (US$248-million) investment to produce a design for theSpherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) fusion facility around 2040.^[64][65]

• 2020
  • Assembly ofITER, which has been under construction for years, commences.^[67]
  • The Chinese experimentalnuclear fusion reactorHL-2M is turned on for the first time, achieving its first plasma discharge.^[68]
  • On November 1, theNational Ignition Facility recordsthe first burning plasma achieved in a laboratory.^[69]
• 2021
  • On August 8, theNational Ignition Facility recordsthe first experiment to surpass theLawson criterion.^[70][71][72]
  • [Record] China'sExperimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak sustains a high-temperature plasma for 101 seconds (120 million °C).^[73]
  • [Record] TheNational Ignition Facility achievesQ = 0.70.^[74]
  • [Record] China'sExperimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak sustains a high-temperature plasma for 1,056 seconds (70 million °C).^[75][76][77]
• 2022
  • [Record] TheJoint European Torus in Oxford, UK, produces a 59 MJ pulse (5 seconds).^[78][79]
  • [Record] On August 8, theNational Ignition Facility recordsthe first laboratoryplasma ignition. Theenergy gain factor wasQ = 0.72, the ratio of laser beam input to fusion output.^[80][81]
  • [Record] On December 5, theNational Ignition Facility recordsthe first experiment to surpassscientific breakeven, achieving anenergy gain factor ofQ = 1.54, producing more fusion energy than the laser beam delivered to the target. Laser efficiency is on the order of 1%.^[82]
• 2023
  • [Record] On February 15, 2023,Wendelstein 7-X reached a new milestone: Power plasma with gigajoule energy turnover generated for eight minutes.^[83]
  • On February 21, 2023,the first proton-boron fusion via magnetic confinement is reported at Japan'sLarge Helical Device.^[84]
  • JT-60SA achieves first plasma in October, making it the largest operational superconducting tokamak in the world.^[85]
  • On 18 December,Joint European Torus pulses its final plasma before decommissioning, after over 40 years of operation.
• 2024
  • In June, theHH70 tokamak, built by the Chinese company Energy Singularity, achieves first plasma. It isthe first fusion device to exclusively usehigh-temperature superconducting magnets.^[86]
  • On February 26, theKorean Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research records a high-temperature plasma for 48 seconds (100 million °C).^[87]
• 2025
  • On February 12, the CEA'sWEST machine was able to maintain a plasma for more than 22 minutes. This was a 25% improvement on the previous record time achieved with EAST, in China, a few weeks previously.^[88]

• Dean, Stephen (2013).Search for the Ultimate Energy Source. Springer.

• Fusion experiments from the British Science Museum
• International Fusion Research Council,Status report on fusion research,Nuclear Fusion45:10A, October 2005.

• Physics timelines
• Technology timelines
• Nuclear fusion

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