Scientists in Britain smash fusion energy record

Scientists in Britain said on Wednesday they have smashed a previous record for generating fusion energy, an achievement hailed a "milestone" on the protracted path towards harnessing a power source considered cheap and clean.

Nuclear fusion is the same process that the sun uses to generate heat and proponents believe it could one day help address climate change by providing an abundant, safe and green source of energy.

A team at the Joint European Torus (JET) facility near Oxford in central England generated 59 megajoules of sustained energy during an experiment in December, more than doubling a 1997 record, the UK Atomic Energy Authority said.

The results "are the clearest demonstration worldwide of the potential for fusion energy to deliver safe and sustainable low-carbon energy," the agency added in a statement.

The donut-shaped machine used for the experiments is called a tokamak, and the JET site is the largest operational one in the world.

Inside, a tiny amount of fuel comprising deuterium and tritium -- both are isotopes of hydrogen, with deuterium also called heavy hydrogen -- is heated to temperatures 10 times hotter than the centre of the sun to create plasma.