CHINA’S ARTIFICIAL SUN EXPERIMENTAL FUSION REACTOR

CHINA’S ARTIFICIAL SUN EXPERIMENTAL FUSION REACTOR

Subject: Science & tech

Context: For 20 seconds, China’s ‘artificial sun’ EAST achieved a peak temperature of 288 million degrees Fahrenheit, which is over ten times hotter than the sun

Concept:

• China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), which mimics the energy generation process of the sun, set a new record after it ran at 216 million degrees Fahrenheit (120 million degrees Celsius) for 101 seconds, according to state media.
• For another 20 seconds, the “artificial sun” also achieved a peak temperature of 288 million degrees Fahrenheit (160 million degrees Celsius), which is over ten times hotter than the sun.

Artificial Sun

• The HL-2M Tokamak reactor is China’s largest and most advanced nuclear fusion experimental research device, and scientists hope that the device can potentially unlock a powerful clean energy source.
• HL-2M Tokamak device is used in it to replicate the nuclear fusion process that occurs naturally in the sun.
• It uses a powerful magnetic field to fuse hot plasma and can reach temperatures of over 150 million degrees Celsius, approximately ten times hotter than the core of the sun.
• Located in Sichuan province, the reactor is often called an “artificial sun” on account of the enormous heat and power it produces.

Nuclear Fusion:

• Nuclear Fusion is defined as the combining of two lighter nuclei into a heavier one.
• Such nuclear fusion reactions are the source of energy in the Sun and other stars.
• It takes considerable energy to force the nuclei to fuse. The conditions needed for this process are extreme millions of degrees of temperature and millions of pascals of pressure.
• The hydrogen bomb is based on a thermonuclear fusion reaction. However, a nuclear bomb based on the fission of uranium or plutonium is placed at the core of the hydrogen bomb to provide initial energy.