Laser Mégajoule
Laser Mégajoule is a inertial fusion device run by CEA in France. It is operating. Like every fusion device built so far, it has produced no net electricity.
Operating since 2014 in support of French research programmes.
The French counterpart to NIF, likewise built primarily for weapons physics.
| Organisation | CEA |
|---|---|
| Approach | inertial |
| Confinement | inertial |
| Country | France |
| Status | Operating |
| First plasma | 2014 |
| Target date | none stated |
|---|---|
| Power target | none stated |
| Energy gain target | none stated |
| Net electricity | No. no fusion device has produced any |
Other inertial projects
| Project | Status |
|---|---|
| National Ignition Facility |
Fusion needs tritium, and the world's civilian stock comes mostly from CANDU fission reactors. See the fusion overview.
Laser Mégajoule in context
2 of the 24 fusion projects on record use the inertial approach: 2 operating, 0 under construction, 0 planned.
Its first plasma is dated 2014, 12 years ago: the 7th earliest of 15 projects on record with a first-plasma date.
| Measure | Laser Mégajoule | Median of all projects | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|
| First plasma | 2014 | 2015 | 7 of 15 (earliest first) |
Worked out from the entries on this site only, so a figure compares Laser Mégajoule with what is recorded here, not with everything that exists. An entry with no value for a measure is left out of that measure's ranking and median.
Sources
- World Nuclear Association, Nuclear Fusion Power · retrieved 2026-09-07
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data