Chinese 'artificial sun' tokamak; 160M°C (2021) and 1,066 s plasma (2025).
Records now fall on separate axes — gain 4.1 at NIF, 1,337 s at WEST, 150M°C at Helion — while the fairest physics yardstick, the triple product, still belongs to a 1996 experiment. A read of every fusion number this tracker holds, and what each one does and does not prove.
Records are falling fast — gain 4 at NIF, 1,000 s-plus plasmas in China and France — but engineering breakeven and a grid-connected plant are still distinct, harder steps. Our read on the gap. (Our opinion, not investment advice.)
Hot enough to fuse, long enough to be a power source: EAST's 160M°C and WEST's 1,337 s tackle the two halves of the same problem. Neither alone makes a reactor.
EAST (ASIPP) / CAS — EAST ran stable plasmas at 1.3–1.65× the Greenwald density limit (vs the usual 0.8–1.0) using ECRH-assisted ohmic start-up — clearing a decades-old barrier in magnetic confinement. Higher density lifts the fusion rate and the triple product toward breakeven. Published in Science Advances (Jan 2026); ASIPP, Huazhong University and Aix-Marseille.
EAST (ASIPP) — Steady-state operation past 1,000 s — the bridge to a power plant.
EAST (ASIPP) — Peak ion temperature ~10× the sun's core — the heat fusion needs.
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NIF / LLNL 
WEST (CEA)