Chinese Scientists Demonstrate 1-Minute Fusion Regime on EAST, Eliminating ELMs and Cutting Heat Loads
Updated
Updated · SciTechDaily · May 17
Chinese Scientists Demonstrate 1-Minute Fusion Regime on EAST, Eliminating ELMs and Cutting Heat Loads
3 articles · Updated · SciTechDaily · May 17
A team led by Guosheng Xu sustained a new plasma regime on China’s EAST tokamak for about 1 minute, simultaneously lowering divertor heat loads, fully suppressing edge-localized modes and preserving strong confinement.
The result came from precise real-time injection of light impurity gases, creating the Detached divertor and Turbulence-dominated Pedestal, or DTP, regime that achieved partial divertor detachment without destabilizing the plasma.
In that regime, a closed divertor trapped neutral particles and reduced edge cooling, while a steeper temperature gradient drove microturbulence that carried heat and particles outward, preventing pressure buildup that can trigger ELMs.
The study, published in Physical Review Letters, addresses two major fusion hurdles at once—protecting reactor exhaust components from extreme heat while keeping high-performance H-mode plasma stable for long-pulse operation.
As China's state-funded fusion surges, can the West's market-driven approach still win the clean energy race?
Beyond a one-minute success, what material hurdles prevent this 'artificial sun' from running for years?
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Breaking the Greenwald Limit: China’s EAST Tokamak Achieves Density-Free Fusion Regime and Redefines the Global Race to Commercial Fusion Energy
Overview
In May 2026, China's EAST tokamak achieved a major breakthrough by demonstrating a stable, ELM-free high-confinement plasma regime, known as the DTP regime. This success allowed EAST to surpass the Greenwald density limit, a barrier that had restricted fusion progress for over 40 years. The Greenwald limit sets an upper boundary for plasma density, which is crucial because fusion power output increases with the square of the fuel density. By overcoming this limit, EAST has opened a new era for fusion energy, paving the way for cleaner and more abundant power in the future.