By maintaining a temperature of 120 million degrees Celsius for over 100 seconds, Chinese scientists are getting closer to creating an “artificial sun”.
The Chinese superconducting Tokamak reactor (EAST) is one of the world’s most promising devices for nuclear fusion research, having made impressive advancements in recent years. In their latest experiment, Chinese scientists set a new world record by maintaining plasma temperature at 120 million degrees Celsius for 101 seconds, bringing them closer to their long-held goal of harnessing a clean and limitless energy source.
The idea behind nuclear fusion research is to replicate how the Sun produces its immense energy, a process involving extreme heat and pressure that forms plasma, where atomic particles fuse together at super-fast speeds. Scientists are seeking to initiate and study these reactions on Earth using a variety of experimental devices, but experts believe that EAST, located at the Hefei Institute of Physical Science under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the most promising approach.
Inside China’s “artificial sun”, the superconducting Tokamak reactor (EAST). (Photo: Newatlas).
EAST is a toroidal metallic device consisting of magnetic coils designed to maintain superheated hydrogen plasma long enough for the reactions to occur. In 2016, scientists at EAST heated hydrogen plasma to about 50 million degrees Celsius and maintained it for 102 seconds. Then in 2018, they achieved the milestone of 100 million degrees Celsius, six times hotter than the Sun’s core, and sustained it for 10 seconds.
According to Xinhua, the latest experiment marks a significant advancement, achieving a new record by heating plasma to 120 million degrees Celsius and maintaining it for 101 seconds. In separate experiments, this “artificial sun” reached plasma temperatures of 160 million degrees Celsius for 20 seconds. The goal of EAST is to maintain plasma at 100 million degrees Celsius for over 1,000 seconds (about 17 minutes).
These experiments are not designed to generate conventional electricity but to improve the field of fusion physics for next-generation devices like ITER, the world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor expected to be completed by 2025.
Similarly to EAST, experiments on South Korea’s KSTAR reactor set a world record last year by maintaining plasma at over 100 million degrees Celsius for 20 seconds. Additionally, the country has announced its development of ITER, which is expected to officially commence operations in 2035.
