A 40-year-old nuclear fusion site has performed its final experiments, marking the end of an era for the groundbreaking project.

The Joint European Torus (JET), located at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, near Abingdon, was a magnetically confined plasma physics experiment; the focal point of the European fusion research programme.

Some 40 years after its first pulse on June 25, 1983, JET delivered pulse number 105,842 earlier this month.

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Chief executive officer of the UK atomic Energy Authority professor Sir Ian Chapman, who was present in the control room at the final experiment, said: “This is the final milestone in JET’s 40-year history.

“Those decades of research using JET by dedicated teams of scientists and engineers have played a critical role in accelerating the development of fusion energy.”

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

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