China's 'Artificial Sun' Set Record-Breaking Plasma Temperature at 120 Million °C

China's "artificial sun" set a new world record for plasma temperature by reaching 120 million degrees Celsius for 101 seconds and 160 million degrees Celsius for 20 seconds.

Breaking World Records

The world record was broken by China's Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), which achieved plasma temperatures of 120 million degrees Celsius for 101 seconds and 160 million degrees Celsius for 20 seconds.

According to the Global Times, the Tokamak device at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Hefei Institutes of Physical Science accomplished the feat last week, marking a significant step toward the test run of the fusion reactor. The gadget is intended to mimic the nuclear fusion process naturally in the sun and stars, which serves as an endless supply of energy. Controlled nuclear fusion, sometimes known as "artificial sun," can achieve the same results.

The newest achievement by Chinese scientists is a huge step forward in the country's pursuit of clean, inexhaustible energy with minimum waste. "The breakthrough is a substantial development, and the ultimate objective should be to maintain the temperature steady for a long time," Li Miao, director of the physics department at Shenzhen's Southern University of Science and Technology, told the Global Times.

Room for Improvements

Experts believe China's experimental 'artificial sun' still has a long way to go. According to Lin Boquiang, head of Xiamen University's China Center for Energy Economics Research, a functional reactor will take decades to emerge from its experimental stages.

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EAST

The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) reactor is a research device for advanced nuclear fusion at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Plasma Physics (ASIPP) in Hefei, China. The artificial sun's objective is to mimic the nuclear fusion reaction, which is the same reaction that drives the sun.

One of three major domestic tokamaks, The EAST, is currently in operation in the United States. China is now running the HL-2A reactor as well as J-TEXT, in addition to the EAST.

In addition, the HL-2M Tokamak, China's largest and most advanced nuclear fusion experimental research apparatus, was successfully powered up for the first time in December 2020, marking a significant milestone in the country's nuclear power research capabilities.

EAST has achieved multiple records for the duration of confinement of scorching plasma since it initially became operational in 2006. The EAST project is part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) facility, which, when completed in 2035, would be the world's biggest nuclear fusion reactor. Several countries, including India, South Korea, Japan, Russia, and the United States, have contributed to the project.

Replicating Nuclear Fusion

The EAST Tokamak device was created to mimic nuclear fusion that occurs in the sun and stars. Nuclear fusion is a method of producing significant amounts of energy without producing a lot of waste. Nuclear fission, which involves splitting the nucleus of a heavy atom into two or more nuclei of lighter atoms, was formerly used to generate energy.

Fission or Fusion

While fission is a less time-consuming process, it produces significantly more nuclear waste. On the other hand, fusion, unlike fission, does not produce greenhouse gases and is thought to be a safer process with a decreased danger of mishaps. In addition, once perfected, nuclear fusion has the potential to offer endless clean energy at extremely cheap prices.

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