China's 'artificial sun' achieves new world record: 100 million Celsius for 1,066 seconds
China's 'artificial sun' has achieved a new world record by reaching a temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius for an impressive duration of 1,066 seconds.
TroibNews 
China's "artificial sun" has achieved a remarkable milestone by maintaining a steady-state high-confinement plasma at temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius for 1,066 seconds, as reported by China Media Group on Monday.
The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), situated in Hefei, in east China's Anhui Province, reached this significant breakthrough in steady-state high-confinement mode, showcasing the potential for stable long-term operation in future fusion reactors.
Utilizing H-mode, which minimizes turbulence at the plasma edge, EAST effectively enhances energy confinement, resulting in a confinement time that is approximately double that of low-confinement mode. This operational mode is viewed as the optimal choice for future fusion reactors, including major initiatives like the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. EAST's impressive sustained H-mode performance at such high temperatures contributes crucial data and experience for the advancement of practical fusion energy.
Designed to replicate the fusion reactions that fuel the Sun, EAST employs hydrogen and deuterium gases as its primary fuels. The insights garnered from this facility are vital for the development of industrial-scale reactors aimed at generating clean and sustainable energy.
The facility is equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, encompassing superconducting magnets, ultra-high vacuum systems, and precise control mechanisms that regulate ultra-strong magnetic fields and substantial electric currents. With close to one million components functioning in unison, EAST holds around 2,000 patents.
Since it began operations in 2006, EAST has carried out over 150,000 plasma experiments, continually extending the limits of long-pulse, high-confinement mode operations. The recent accomplishment of maintaining H-mode for 1,066 seconds builds upon earlier milestones, which include 30 seconds in 2012, 60 seconds in 2016, 101 seconds in 2017, and 403 seconds in 2023.
Max Fischer contributed to this report for TROIB News
The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), situated in Hefei, in east China's Anhui Province, reached this significant breakthrough in steady-state high-confinement mode, showcasing the potential for stable long-term operation in future fusion reactors.
Utilizing H-mode, which minimizes turbulence at the plasma edge, EAST effectively enhances energy confinement, resulting in a confinement time that is approximately double that of low-confinement mode. This operational mode is viewed as the optimal choice for future fusion reactors, including major initiatives like the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. EAST's impressive sustained H-mode performance at such high temperatures contributes crucial data and experience for the advancement of practical fusion energy.
Designed to replicate the fusion reactions that fuel the Sun, EAST employs hydrogen and deuterium gases as its primary fuels. The insights garnered from this facility are vital for the development of industrial-scale reactors aimed at generating clean and sustainable energy.
The facility is equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, encompassing superconducting magnets, ultra-high vacuum systems, and precise control mechanisms that regulate ultra-strong magnetic fields and substantial electric currents. With close to one million components functioning in unison, EAST holds around 2,000 patents.
Since it began operations in 2006, EAST has carried out over 150,000 plasma experiments, continually extending the limits of long-pulse, high-confinement mode operations. The recent accomplishment of maintaining H-mode for 1,066 seconds builds upon earlier milestones, which include 30 seconds in 2012, 60 seconds in 2016, 101 seconds in 2017, and 403 seconds in 2023.
Max Fischer contributed to this report for TROIB News
