China's Artificial Sun Sets A World Record After Being Active At 120 Million Degrees For 100 Seconds
China says it has reached a new world record after scientists who developed an "artificial sun" ran the device at a record temperature of more than 100 seconds.
The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EST) generated a plasma temperature of 120 million degrees Celsius for 100 seconds, before starting things up to 160 million degrees for another 20 seconds.
The device, which is based at the Hefei Institute of Physical Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, broke the previous record of maintaining a plasma temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius for 100 seconds.
The EST is one of many "artificial sun" devices under construction, as countries compete to become the first to produce a reliable nuclear fusion reactor. The successful test sees China take another step toward generating unlimited clean energy through nuclear fusion - a goal widely seen as the holy grail of sustainable energy - after launching the device six months ago.
By maintaining a peak temperature of 160 million degrees, the EST device now appears to be able to generate temperatures over 10 times hotter than the surface of the sun, which burns at about 15 million degrees Celsius.
Speaking to The Global Times, Chinese state-run newspaper Li Miao, director of the physics department at Shenzhen University of Southern Science and Technology, said the next target could see scientists trying to run the device at a constant temperature for as long as possible. a whole week.
"The discovery is significant progress, and the ultimate goal should be to keep the temperature stable for a long time." says Li Miao
The latest test destroys previous records set by the same device and South Korea's artificial sun, Korea's superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR), which ran at 100 million degrees Celsius for 20 seconds in December last year.
The EST artificial sun is part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor - the largest global scientific cooperation effort since the development of the International Space Station three decades ago.
The Global Times reports that the reactor is being developed by China, the EU, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States. China funds about 9% of research and development.
If the device continues to advance at the current rate, experts believe that successful nuclear fusion could be achieved in the next 30 years. The International Atomic Energy Agency is currently working on the goal of maintaining a plasma temperature of 100 million degrees for 300 seconds until 2025.
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