A 17‑year‑old high school student from Oregon has built a fully functional nuclear fusion reactor in his garage, achieving net positive plasma confinement for 12 seconds — a milestone that usually requires multi‑million‑dollar labs. Using salvaged parts, a custom‑built vacuum chamber, and open‑source control software, the teen followed ITER design principles to scale down the tokamak concept. His project started as a science fair entry but quickly drew attention from university physicists. Experts say the reactor isn’t capable of energy production, but the precision of the magnetic field alignment and real‑time diagnostics is unusually advanced for an amateur setup. The student plans to publish his schematics online to inspire other young makers.
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