Another New Record, China's Artificial Sun Reaches 70 Million Degrees Celsius In 1000 Seconds

Image Credit: SCMP

JAKARTA - China's sun set another new world record last week, running for 1,056 seconds at high plasma temperatures.

This is the longest run for the state-of-the-art Experimental Superconducting Superconducting Energy Reactor (EAST). EAST successfully operated at 70 million degrees Celsius for 1,056 seconds (17 minutes, 36 seconds).

Previously, EAST reached the milestone in May, running on hot plasma or gas at 120 million degrees Celsius for 101 seconds. During a 20-second experiment in May, the facility reached a peak temperature of 160 million degrees Celsius, which is 10 times hotter than the Sun.

“This is a goal for a different stage. The recent operation laid a solid scientific and experimental foundation for running the fusion reactor," said Gong Xianzu, a researcher at the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Citing SCMP, Saturday, January 1, it is known, Gong is also in charge of experiments at EAST, which is located at the Hefei Institute of Physical Sciences CAS in Anhui Province, East China.

Designed to mimic solar-like fusion reactions using hydrogen and deuterium gases as fuel, EAST will provide insights into plasma physics research that is critical to building industrial-sized reactors to produce clean energy.

Fusion energy is considered an ideal "state of the art energy" for a carbon-neutral energy future because hydrogen and deuterium gases are abundant in the ocean. The agency has also collaborated with high-emission companies to help them achieve carbon neutrality.

EAST is one of the three major tokamaks operating in China. The HL-2M tokamak fusion reactor, which was put into operation last December, is located in Chengdu, southwest China, and the third is in the central city of Wuhan. The experiment, which began in early December, will run through June.

Currently, the two main challenges for scientists are keeping the temperature above 100 million degrees Celsius and operating at a stable level for a long time.

Similar efforts are also underway in the United States (US), Europe, Russia and South Korea. China is also among the 35 countries involved in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) megaproject in France.