The pursuit of clean, limitless energy has seen another record broken recently. The Chinese Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), commonly referred to as their “Artificial Sun,” has shattered previous records by having plasma kept temperatures over 100 million degrees Celsius for over 17 minutes. This was achieved just last month on January 20, and represents a massive leap in fusion capabilities as well as bringing humanity one step closer to harnessing the power of the stars.
The Quest for Star Power
Over the last seven decades, scientists have chased the holy grail of energy production: nuclear fusion. Unlike today’s nuclear fission, fusion doesn’t make any hazardous waste or carry any of the same risks. The Artificial Sun project is designed to copy the same process our sun goes through; hydrogen atoms fusing to form helium and releasing incredible amounts of energy as it does so. The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has invested heavily in this process, primarily at the EAST facility in Hefei, Anhui Province.
The biggest hurdle of creating a fusion reactor is being able generate temperatures hotter than the sun’s core (roughly 15 million degrees Celsius) to make up for Earth’s significantly smaller mass. Also, one must be able to keep plasma stable for extended periods while also controlling the fusion process precisly. “A fusion device must achieve stable operation at high efficiency for thousands of seconds to enable the self-sustaining circulation of plasma, which is essential for continuous power generation,” explained Song Yuntao, director of the Institute of Plasma Physics (ASIPP) and vice president of the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS).
Breaking Records with Advanced Technology
The achievement easily doubles EAST’s previous record of 403 seconds set two years ago, and marks what researchers call “a critical advancement in fusion research.” And this progress didn’t happen by chance – multiple systems underwent hefty upgrades since the last experiment took place. Most notably, the heating system being used could previously operate at about the power of 70,000 microwave ovens, and now works at double that capacity – an interesting correlation.
The Artificial Sun uses a tokamak design – a doughnut-shaped vacuum chamber surrounded by magnets that both hold and control the superheated plasma. The magnets are made from superconducting materials and make magnetic fields that stop the plasma from touching any of the chamber walls (which would cool the plasma). The test gives us a look into exactly what the future of commercial fusion plants would need to do.
“1,066 seconds is of monumental significance,” said Gong Xianzu, head of EAST Physics and Experimental Operations division. “This milestone provides invaluable insights and references for the global development of functional fusion reactors.” New records mean new insights, and new insights mean new ways to construct an even better fusion facility for the next test.
Global Collaboration and Future Implications
Since it started in 2006, EAST has been an open platform for Chinese and international scientists to conduct fusion-related experiments. China officially joined the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) program in 2006 as its seventh member. The country was responsible for about 9 percent of that project’s construction and operation, which is taking place in southern France. ITER will be the world’s largest experimental tokamak fusion reactor when it is up and running.
The Artificial Sun’s achievements directly contribute to international efforts toward fusion. The models used by EAST are the building blocks for experimental fusion reactors like ITER and the future China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). Each successful test brings us closer to a future powered by clean energy that has the power to revolutionize energy generation across the globe.
“We hope to expand international collaboration via EAST and bring fusion energy into practical use for humanity,” said Song. While commercial fusion power is still years in the making, headlines like these bring us one step closer to that reality.