Nuclear fusion has the potential to completely change how we generate energy. And now, it looks like China’s “artificial sun” has managed to break yet another record, pushing the country one step closer to achieving fusion.
According to Chinese state media, the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) nuclear fusion reactor was able to maintain a steady and highly contained loop of plasma for 1,066 seconds on January 20. This is more than double the preview record set for a plasma loop, which was just 403 seconds.
Obviously, this means that China’s “artificial sun” has accomplished quite the feat, and showing that it can run so long without issue is a huge step forward for nuclear fusion reactors as a whole. These types of reactors are named as such because they mimic the sun’s energy generation by fusing two light atoms into a single heavier atom through heat and pressure.
Of course, the sun has immensely more pressure than our reactors here on Earth, which is why scientists usually compensate by using more extreme temperatures. In this case, the plasma loop that they ran for 1,066 seconds at EAST was roughly six times hotter than the sun. It’s not really something you want to stick your hand in, that’s for sure.
One reason nuclear fusion has become such a popular “future-proofing” energy method is its ability to create energy without greenhouse gas emissions—something that we badly need if we hope to control climate change better than we currently do. China’s artificial sun at EAST is a special kind of reactor, too.
It’s a magnetic confinement reactor, a tokamak, designed to keep the plasma burning continuously for a long period of time. Unfortunately, none of these reactors have yet to achieve what we call ignition—the point at which nuclear fusion creates its own energy and sustains its own reaction. But this new record is a massive leap toward that achievement.
All that remains to be seen now is whether China will continue to lead these fusion developments or if other countries will start to see similar achievements and records set over the coming years. If we can, then the goal of unlocking limitless energy may finally be closer than ever.
