General Fusion Reaches 12 Million Degrees Celsius in Fusion Milestone

VANCOUVER, British Columbia and OXFORD, England, Oct. 08, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- General Fusion, a leading fusion company, has achieved a significant milestone with its large-scale Lawson Machine 26 (LM26) demonstration. Using Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF), the company has reached electron temperatures exceeding 12 million degrees Celsius, marking a world-first result for its MTF approach. This achievement is a crucial step forward in the company's mission to deliver baseload, economical clean power from fusion energy.

The 1.1 keV electron heating, equivalent to 12.6 million degrees Celsius, was measured just prior to peak compression and is detailed in a technical paper co-authored by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). The paper, which is being concurrently posted on General Fusion’s website and submitted for peer review, highlights the company's progress in advancing its MTF technology.

General Fusion’s LM26 program is designed to reach key technical milestones on the path to a first-of-a-kind fusion plant in the next decade. The machine has now achieved 1 keV with low-speed compression, a significant step toward the company’s ultimate commercial approach. The LM26 program will advance toward the Lawson criterion, the combination of temperature, density, and energy confinement time required for net fusion energy in the plasma.

UKAEA, the UK’s national fusion laboratory, provided critical expertise in plasma diagnostics. The findings were made possible through UKAEA’s decades of experience operating fusion facilities such as the Joint European Torus (JET) and MAST Upgrade. UKAEA has internationally recognized expertise in plasma diagnostics, including the use of laser-based techniques like Thomson scattering to measure plasma temperature accurately.

Thomson scattering involves shining a laser through the plasma and analyzing how the light scatters from the particles inside it. This method allows for accurate measurements of plasma temperature without disturbing it. UKAEA’s expertise in this technique dates back to 1969, when UKAEA scientists collaborated with Russian researchers to record fusion temperatures above 10 million degrees Celsius. This breakthrough established UKAEA as a leader in plasma diagnostics.

General Fusion’s LM26 program is part of its phased commercialization plan. Upgrades to the LM26 machine are now underway to support higher plasma compression ratios ahead of the company’s next targeted 10 keV milestone. The LM26 program will then advance toward the Lawson criterion, the combination of temperature, density, and energy confinement time required for net fusion energy in the plasma.

General Fusion has spent more than two decades developing its fusion technology in Canada, with support from the Government of Canada’s Strategic Response Fund and other programs that have been instrumental to the company’s progress. The company has also advanced its technology with leading fusion research organizations worldwide, including a long-standing collaboration with UKAEA to optimize diagnostic systems.