With the help of the experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), which is called China's "artificial sun", physicists were able to heat the plasma to 100 million degrees Celsius (which is 6 times the temperature of our star's core) and reach a heating power of 10 MW. As part of this experiment, scientists obtained indicators approaching the physical conditions necessary for a fusion reactor to operate in a stable mode.
The experiment was carried out using the world's first superconducting tokamak with a non-circular cross section. Its development and assembly was carried out by scientists from the Institute of Plasma Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In a published press release from the institute, it is said that the results obtained were close to satisfying the physical conditions necessary for creating a future stationary thermonuclear reactor.
The collision of two hydrogen nuclei creates a huge burst of energy. This process is called a thermonuclear reaction. With it, the Sun and other stars produce light and heat. If scientists can harness this energy, then humanity will have access to an almost endless source of clean energy.
The Chinese installation was called an artificial sun due to the fact that it creates the necessary conditions for nuclear fusion by fusing hydrogen nuclei, as in the cores of stars. However, unlike celestial bodies, the tokamak does not use ordinary hydrogen, but its isotopes - deuterium and tritium - which are extracted from seawater.
The successful EAST experiment was an important step towards the creation of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). 35 countries are involved in the development of the latter, including Russia, China and the United States.
In addition, the parameters obtained during the tests are also important for the construction of the China Experimental Fusion Reactor (CFETR) project.
Scientists are working not only to create an "artificial sun", but also invent new ways to store the energy coming from the present. For example, Swedish physicists told how to store solar energy inside a liquid.
Nikolay Khizhnyak
Promotional video: