China is aiming for energy self-sufficiency, particularly in nuclear energy.
A New Milestone for China
The state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced that it has achieved a significant milestone in its efforts to create an “artificial sun” powered by nuclear fusion (as opposed to nuclear fission), according to SCMP.
On Saturday, August 26, CNNC reported that the latest version of its tokamak machine, known as HL-2A, has generated a plasma current of over 1 million amps, or 1 mega-amp, in high confinement mode for the first time.
“This is an important milestone for China’s development in nuclear fusion, as nuclear fusion confinement is one of the three pillars in China’s nuclear energy development strategy,” CNNC stated.
HL-2A generates a plasma current of over 1 million amps, or 1 mega-amp, in high confinement mode. (Photo: SCMP)
Scientists hope that this process—generating energy in the same way that the Sun produces heat and light—could provide safe, clean, and nearly limitless energy.
Unlike nuclear fission, which is how modern nuclear power plants generate energy, nuclear fusion produces significantly less radioactive waste.
CNNC mentioned that this device operates in “high confinement mode” (mode H), where the temperature and density of the plasma are significantly increased.
The new reactor has overcome “significant technical challenges” by using a more powerful thermal system and advanced divertors—devices designed to extract heat, minimize plasma contamination, and protect the reactor’s surrounding walls.
According to Chinese media, this device was developed at the Southwest Institute of Physics under CNNC in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province. However, this is not the first place to generate and sustain ultra-hot plasma with high confinement.
In April 2023, the Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) developed by the Institute of Plasma Physics set a record by maintaining plasma for nearly 7 minutes—four times longer than the previous record.
Scientists around the world are striving to develop an “artificial sun”—creating energy by heating hydrogen atoms to above 100 million degrees Celsius and confining them long enough for them to fuse into heavier atoms, releasing a tremendous amount of energy.
However, the challenge is to control this process to prevent the reactor from exploding while recreating the “artificial sun” on Earth.
According to the World Nuclear Association, China is pursuing energy self-sufficiency, with nuclear energy playing a crucial role, having tripled its nuclear power capacity over the past decade.
Research by Tokyo-based Astamuse shows that China has filed more nuclear fusion technology patents than any other country or region from 2011 to 2022.
The world’s second-largest economy also aims to build an industrial prototype fusion reactor by 2035 and deploy this technology for large-scale commercial use by 2050.
The Mega Project to Recreate the “Artificial Sun” on Earth
China is one of seven parties involved in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the world’s largest fusion reactor being built in Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, France, in collaboration with the European Union (EU), India, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and the United States.
“Igniting” plasma at temperatures 10 times that of the Sun’s core is a scientific aspiration of many countries worldwide. (Photo: ITER).
The ITER project is a mega international project aimed at demonstrating, both scientifically and technologically, the feasibility of harnessing fusion energy on Earth. Specifically, the goal is to “ignite” plasma at temperatures 10 times that of the Sun’s core, keeping this “artificial star” burning and generating net energy for several seconds per reaction.
ITER is expected to help humanity realize the dream of a world powered not by fossil fuels but by fusion energy, a process similar to that which makes stars shine, Scientific American commented.
However, this mega project faces a significant issue: budget overruns and lengthy delays, with ITER at risk of becoming the longest-delayed and highest-cost scientific project in history.
The ITER project officially began in 2006 when international partners agreed to fund an estimated 5 billion euros (then about 6.3 billion USD), with a 10-year plan to bring ITER into operation by 2016.
However, the most recent official cost estimate is over 20 billion euros (22 billion USD), with ITER nominally set to be activated just two years from now. In reality, ITER is not only facing additional delays of several years but also has increasing internal recognition that the remaining technical challenges of the project could drive costs even higher. It is unclear when ITER will become operational.
Nuclear fusion (thermonuclear fusion) is the energy source that keeps the Sun shining, and the ultimate goal of international scientists is to achieve fusion on Earth.
Nuclear fusion combines light atomic nuclei (deuterium and tritium) in a plasma environment into heavier helium atoms.
Fusion reactions do not emit carbon dioxide, and their fuel can be extracted from seawater in virtually unlimited quantities (lithium is the source of tritium and deuterium).
Fusion energy is expected to provide fundamental solutions to many of the world’s energy and environmental challenges.
