Scientists have created an artificial sun or reactor, which uses nuclear fusion instead of fission to create heat. For the most part, futurists predict fusion or recombining atoms will be the most efficient source of heat and energy. In contrast, fission breaks atoms apart. However, scientists still need to find a way to contain extremely high temperatures that are comparable to the sun.
The fusion reactor sets a new world record when it reached a temperature of 216 million degrees for 100 seconds. Its highest temperature was 288 million degrees, which is ten times more than the sun's surface, reported the Daily Mail.
This cutting-edge machine, which was powered for the first time last December, surpassed the previous record of sustaining a plasma temperature of 180 million degrees Fahrenheit (100 million degrees Celsius) for 100 seconds.
Tokamak reactor
Chinese scientists are hoping the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) will enable the production of green energy without burning fossil fuels. Mastering clean power will provide an unlimited energy source for any nation.
Li Miao, the head of the Physics department in the Shenzhen-based Southern University of Science and Technology, mentioned the next step is to keep the same sun-like heat for a whole week if the machine can cope.
He told the Global Times, "It is a significant step ahead, an ultimate goal should be to keep the temperature constant for a lot longer."
The Tokamak is like an artificial sun that is designed to recreate the recombining of atoms and particles in nuclear fusion. This creates energy, Inside the EAST, the same processes that the sun uses to light up the solar system are at work.
The reactor, which is situated in China's eastern Anhui province was completed late last year. It is found at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where researchers are trying to perfect the technology before anyone else.
Next-generation power
According to the People's Daily, which is a mouthpiece of the Communist Party, "Developing nuclear fusion energy is the only way to achieve energy independence, that will affect the future of China and its future economy."
Since 2006, scientists have been working on smaller versions of the nuclear fusion reactor in the mainland.
Plans are in the works to collaborate with scientists from other nations working on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the largest device used for fusing atomic particles via a research project headed by France. It is expected to be fully assembled by 2025.
This project is one of the biggest international scientific collaboration endeavors since the International Space Station got launched more than 20 years ago.
Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR), which has operated at 180 million degrees Fahrenheit (100 million degrees Celsius) for 20 seconds, is another "artificial sun."
The sun, which burns from over 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million degrees Celsius), is sustained by fusion, which is regarded as the ultimate form of energy. By comparison, fusion is cleaner and does not leave a residue the way fission does. Plasma also cannot be stolen because it is gas. China's "Tokomak" Nuclear Fusion Reactor is one of these devices.
