China successfully tested 'artificial sun'

Chinese scientists have successfully maintained plasma from a nuclear reactor for one minute, a major step forward in their plan to harness energy from an "artificial sun".

EAST reactor in Hefei, China. Photo: Xinhua.

The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) reactor at the Institute of Plasma Physics in Hefei, China, was built to simulate the nuclear fusion reaction that occurs deep within the Sun's core. This process is different from atomic fission, in which atoms split apart instead of coming together.

When combining atoms to produce a large amount of energy, the EAST reactor creates a hot, ionized gas called plasma. Chinese scientists recently successfully conducted an experiment to maintain a plasma for one minute, Science World Report reported.

The result is crucial to the success of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), one of the world's largest nuclear fusion experiments. It also puts China at the forefront of plans to harness energy from an "artificial sun" that could replace conventional fission reactors and fossil fuels in the future.

China has also previously succeeded in increasing the temperature of plasma in a nuclear reactor to 49.999 million degrees Celsius, three times the temperature of the Sun. The heat of this "artificial sun" is almost equivalent to a medium-sized thermonuclear explosion.

According to VNE