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The advanced experimental superconductive tokamak (East), also nicknamed the Chinese “artificial sun”, maintained a stable plasma at high containment for 1,066 seconds – a new record far exceeding the previous 403 seconds. This step constitutes a major advance in research on fusion energy, the threshold of 1,000 seconds of operating being considered as a reference of exploitability.
The fusion reactors generate energy through the same thermonuclear reaction occurring in the heart of the sun, hence the nickname “artificial suns”. This reaction consists of a cascade of mergers of two light atoms in a single atom in extremely high temperature and pressure conditions. Physicists have been looking for for more than 70 years to reproduce this reaction in the laboratory due to its almost unlimited energy potential. The energy produced would also be clean, especially due to the absence of nuclear waste.
However, the reproduction of nuclear fusion in the laboratory comes up against major technical challenges. Pressure inside the sun is much higher than reactors on earth can generate. In order to produce sufficiently stable fusion reactions, physicists must compensate by maintaining much higher temperatures than those of the sun (greater than 100 million degrees Celsius). An extremely precise control of the merger reaction is also necessary to maintain stable operation over a long enough time to produce energy.
« A merger device must operate in a stable and high -yielding manner for thousands of seconds to allow autonomous plasma circulation, which is essential for continuous energy production of future merger power plants
“, Explains in a press release from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Yuntao Song, director of the Plasmas Physical Institute (ASIPP) and Vice-President of Hefei’s physical sciences (HFIPS).
Research on nuclear fusion energy probably does not advance quickly enough to resolve the climate crisis. Some experts believe that it could be exploitable in a few decades, while others think it could take much more time. Nevertheless, the new merger record set by Song and its colleagues with the East marks a major advance towards the creation of a functional and usable fusion reactor.
The East fusion reactor based in Heifei, China. © Hfips/Case
A record marking a threshold of keyability
East is a magnetic containment reactor designed to keep the plasma in continuous combustion for prolonged durations. Since its launch in 2006, it has served as an experimental platform open to researchers from around the world for research on fusion energy. This collaborative approach has made it possible to accelerate progress in the field. In 2023, the reactor established a high confinement plasma operating record of 403 seconds.
-Since then, several improvements have been made to increase the operating time. Previously operating with a power equivalent to 70,000 microwave ovens, the output power of the heating system has been doubled, while maintaining the stability of the plasma.
Thus, recent improvements made it possible to establish a new operating record of 1,066 seconds, thus far exceeding the previous one (403 seconds). Although magnetic confinement reactors have not yet reached the ignition point (the point at which the fusion creates its own energy and maintains its own reaction), this new record is a step forward towards the Maintaining long -lasting plasma loops.
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Indeed, the threshold of 1,000 seconds of operation is considered a key reference to demonstrate the exploitability of merger reactors. According to Song, “merger reactions must reach thousands of seconds to maintain themselves. This record marks the first time that humanity has simulated the conditions necessary for the operation of merger reactors in an experimental device ”.
The new East results will contribute to the realization of other merger experiences and the development of other reactors. China plans to build a new generation of experimental research facilities in the same region as East. The data could also contribute to the development of the ITER reactor, currently under construction in the south of France.
Once finished, ITER will be the largest experimental nuclear fusion reactor in the world. As a member of the program, China participates in 9 % of its construction and its future operation. The reactor should start as soon as possible in 2039 and will be used for research for the construction of commercially exploitable merger power plants. “” We hope to extend international collaboration via East and put fusion energy at the service of humanity “Concludes Song.
