Blog Post

World's Youngest Person to Achieve Nuclear Fusion, world record set by Jackson Oswalt

January 31, 2025

Memphis, Tennessee, United States--Jackson Oswalt, from Memphis, Tennessee, successfully made a nuclear fusion reactor in his family's spare room aged just 12 with parts he got online in his family playroom, setting the world record for being the World's youngest person to achieve nuclear fusion, according to the WORLD RECORD ACADEMY.

"The youngest person to achieve nuclear fusion is Jackson Oswalt (USA, b.19 January 2005), who, just hours before his 13th birthday in 2018, fused together two deuterium atoms using a fusor that he had built and operated in the playroom of his family home in Memphis, Tennessee, USA," the Guinness World Records says.

"Jackson's achievement was verified by Fusor.net, The Open Source Fusor Research Consortium, on 2 February 2018 and confirmed by fusion researcher Richard Hull, who maintains a list of amateur scientists who have achieved fusion at home."

"Jackson Oswalt from the US turned to science instead of video games to do something meaningful. Just two hours before his 13th birthday, he became the youngest person to achieve nuclear fusion," the dev.ua reports.

«I realized that I could be the best at any video game, but in the end it still wouldn’t mean anything. In the grand scheme of things, video games didn’t play any role. So I changed my path. I immediately switched to the closest thing to video games in real life: science,» the young inventor said.

"Inspired by the story of Taylor Wilson, who built a nuclear fusion reactor as a teenager, Jackson wondered if someone so young could accomplish such a task. He began watching physics videos on YouTube and researching the materials he would need to complete his attempt to create an energy source. He was only 11 years old at the time."

"A schoolboy successfully made a nuclear fusion reactor in his family's spare room aged just 12. Jackson Oswalt, from Memphis, now 14, is believed to be the youngest person to build a functioning nuclear fusion reactor," the Daily Mail reports.

"The machine was built from customised vacuums, pumps and chambers bought on eBay by his parents - costing the family a total of $10,000. Information on how to build the machine was found online and on January 19 last year, mere hours before his 13th birthday, nuclear fusion was successful.

"The previous record for the youngest successful mastermind behind a nuclear fusion reactor was held by Taylor Wilson, who achieved it aged 14."

"A teenager in Tennessee is the youngest person ever to achieve nuclear fusion. Jackson Oswalt did it with parts he got online in his family playroom. He was 12 years old.

"In the three years since, the Guinness Book of World Records has been waiting for confirmation from The Open Source Fusor Research Consortium.

"Oswalt told USA Today he did it because he didn't want to spend his life doing video games," the NPR reports.

"At just 12 years old, Oswalt beat the previous world record by a full two years. He joins a running list of “fusioneers” who have achieved fusion at home. Richard Hull, who keeps the list, is himself part of the club," the Popular Mechanics says.

"Oswalt is industrious and obviously very bright, but he’s just one of a thriving community of homemade fusion makers. Remember the college student who tried to sell an almost-ready-to-use fusion reactor to pay his college tuition?"

"An American 14-year-old has reportedly become the youngest known person in the world to create a successful nuclear reaction," The Guardian reports.

"The Open Source Fusor Research Consortium, a hobbyist group, has recognized the achievement by Jackson Oswalt, from Memphis, Tennessee, when he was aged 12 in January 2018.

"The enterprising teenager said he transformed an old playroom in his parents’ house into a nuclear laboratory with $10,000 (£7,700) worth of equipment that uses 50,000 volts of electricity to heat deuterium gas and fuse the nuclei to release energy."

"Jackson Oswalt, now 15, of Memphis was dubbed by Guinness as the world's youngest person to achieve nuclear fusion after officials verified that he built his own nuclear fusion reactor at his family's home and successfully used it in his final hours of being 12 years old," the UPI reports.

""I've been able to use electricity to accelerate two atoms of deuterium together so they fuse into an atom of helium-3 and also release a neutron, which can be used to heat up water and turn a steam engine, which in turn produces electricity," Oswalt said."

Photos: World's youngest person to achieve nuclear fusion, world record set by Jackson Oswalt

(1) Almost every single part came from eBay. Liquidated research and military facilities would dump tons of valuable equipment for cheap, sometimes in perfect condition. The turbomolecular pump I got for a few hundred dollars was worth nearly $15,000 new. After around a year of work, the reactor started to come together. I was finally ready to make a run at producing a real D-D fusion reaction. Photos: Twitter/Jackson Oswalt

(2,3,4) The first step was to build a “demo fusor”, or a device that creates plasma but doesn’t achieve fusion. This required a vacuum chamber, vacuum pump, and a neon sign transformer with a homemade AC-DC converter. I ended up bringing this version to my school’s science fair. I only got it working the night before. In hindsight, it’s amazing they let me walk in the door with it. Photos: Twitter/Jackson Oswalt

(5,6,7) But this was far from a working fusion reactor. If I ran this setup for more than a few minutes, the “grid” in the center would melt and destroy itself. Clearly there was work to be done. I rebuilt the vacuum chamber, got a turbomolecular pump from eBay, sourced some Deuterium for fuel (somewhat legally) and rebuilt the inner grid from Tantalum. Photos: Twitter/Jackson Oswalt

(8,9) Almost every single part came from eBay. Liquidated research and military facilities would dump tons of valuable equipment for cheap, sometimes in perfect condition. The turbomolecular pump I got for a few hundred dollars was worth nearly $15,000 new. After around a year of work, the reactor started to come together. I was finally ready to make a run at producing a real D-D fusion reaction. Photos: Twitter/Jackson Oswalt

(9) When two atoms of deuterium fuse, half the time they produce a Helium-3 atom and a spare neutron. Detecting this neutron is how we prove fusion has occurred. After a handful of stressful tests just days before my 13th birthday, I successfully achieved fusion and detected these neutrons as proof! Photo: Twitter/Jackson Oswalt