Latest news with #ExperimentalAdvancedSuperconductingTokamak
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
China's new 'artificial sun' sets world record — here's how it could change energy production forever
There's a new sun rising in China. Well, sort of. China's nuclear fusion reactor, called the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) officially but an "artificial sun" by many, has just set a record for the longest sustained, stable nuclear fusion reaction. EAST maintained the reaction for 17 minutes and 46 seconds, smashing its own previous 2023 world record of 6 minutes and 43 seconds, according to Newsweek. If nuclear fusion technology can be safely harnessed, it will provide a practically infinite source of clean energy. Needless to say, that would be incredibly beneficial for humanity. Not only does nuclear fusion not produce the harmful carbon emissions burning fossil fuels does, but it doesn't require constant sun or wind, like solar and turbines respectively do. You turn the machine on, and it just produces basically free power. Forever. Unlike current nuclear-generated power, which relies on nuclear fission, nuclear fusion produces no harmful radioactive elements when under operation. Nuclear fission plants bombard atoms with electrons, breaking them apart, which releases energy but also produces radioactive isotopes that must be safely contained and stored. Nuclear fusion works in the opposite way. Reactors like EAST take hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe and force its atomic nuclei to bond under enormous pressure. This releases huge amounts of energy, which the reactor harnesses. But it's a tough scientific nut to crack. This new record by EAST moves humanity one step closer, though. "A fusion device must achieve stable operation at high efficiency for thousands of seconds to enable the self-sustaining circulation of plasma, which is critical for the continuous power generation of future fusion plants," said Song Yuntao, director of the Chinese Academy of Science's Institute of Plasma Physics. EAST has been in operation for nearly 20 years and has been upgraded thoroughly since it first went online in 2006, according to news agency Xinhua. Should we be pouring money into nuclear fusion technology? Yes — it'll pay off It's worth exploring Not from our tax dollars No — it's a waste Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. What researchers are learning with EAST will be folded into the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, a giant tokamak-type reactor under construction in France, as part of a global effort. "We hope to expand international collaboration via EAST and bring fusion energy into practical use for humanity," Song said in a statement. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Satellite Images Show China Building What Appears to Be a Huge Fusion Facility
In a move straight out of a Bond film, China seems to be building a massive laser-fired nuclear facility in Mianyang, a major science and research city in Sichuan province. Recently-released satellite imagery appears to show a research compound containing four large laser bays organized around one "target chamber," along with a handful of auxiliary buildings. Reuters reports that analysts with CNA Corp — a research group funded by the US Department of Navy — who viewed the images say the target chamber will likely channel the power of the four laser bays to fuse hydrogen atoms together in the nuclear process known as fusion. The Mianyang facility could have a variety of uses, from the development of clean energy to the testing of nuclear weapons without the need for thermonuclear detonation, a practice China and the US have agreed to halt. Experimental fusion reactors aren't uncommon, though. The United States has been operating a similar site known as the National Ignition Facility in California since 2022, along with many other countries and startups; in fact, the United States and China are already partners, along with other international cohorts partners, on a massive experimental reactor in France called ITER, which is widely viewed as the most promising initiative in the still-elusive development of practical fusion power generation. This isn't the first time that China has made headlines for its domestic pursuit of fusion power, though. Just weeks ago, researchers with the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP) claimed to have set a new record by containing a slurry of high-energy plasma for over 17 minutes in a facility called the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), also known as the "Artificial Sun." The accomplishment more than doubled the previous record for sustained fusion reaction, also set by EAST. (That reactor is pictured at the top of this article.) The record-breaking test is the most recent development in the global fusion race, a multi-billion dollar competition to be the first to develop a clean and nearly limitless alternative to nuclear fission, which produces hazardous waste, among other dangers. The race to clean energy has been exacerbated recently by the huge energy demands of AI facilities — a connection that hasn't gone unnoticed by AI execs including Sam Altman, who claims that his own fusion startup, Helion, is bearing down on a practical solution — though that may be starting to change as more efficient AI models hit the space. While some experts have urged patience when it comes to fusion expectations, China's latest facility is a sign that the race is still on to find the Holy Grail of energy. More on nuclear power: Trump's Tariffs Poised to Wreck Nuclear Power
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
'Artificial Sun' Blazes Past 1,000 Seconds in New Fusion Record
Scientists just set a new record in attempts to create an 'artificial Sun' down here on planet Earth. The team behind the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) in China kept their fusion drive running for more than 1,000 seconds for the first time – lasting for 1,066 seconds (almost 18 minutes) to be exact. First powered up in 2006, EAST is one of several nuclear fusion reactors being worked on, in attempts to produce virtually limitless amounts of clean energy in the same way our own Sun produces energy. Of course, simulating a tiny version of the Sun inside a laboratory is quite a challenge, which is why milestones like this one are so important. Keeping ultra-hot plasma stable for extended periods of time is crucial to the success of EAST, and the new 1,066-second record smashes the previous one of 403 seconds for these plasma conditions. The breakthrough was achieved by researchers at the Institute of Plasma Physics (ASIPP) and the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS), both part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). "A fusion device must achieve stable operation at high efficiency for thousands of seconds to enable the self-sustaining circulation of plasma, which is critical for the continuous power generation of future fusion plants," says nuclear physicist Song Yuntao from the Institute of Plasma Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. While China hasn't shared a lot of detail about the conditions for this 1,066-second achievement, the researchers say their heating system has doubled in power through recent innovations – so it can now reach the equivalent of 140,000 microwave ovens being switched on at once. Since it first went online, the EAST team has made steady progress in increasing the temperature and the stability of the plasma at the core of the machine. It uses what's known as high-confinement plasma, essentially a better way of trapping the gas. Tokamak (donut-shaped) reactors like this one use plasma and magnetic fields to create the conditions to smash together hydrogen atoms at incredible speeds and under intense pressure, which then releases huge amounts of energy. We're still a long way off getting a fully functioning nuclear fusion reactor that can connect to power grids, but every step forward in the technology is encouraging – and adds to the evidence that this may one day be a viable power source. So what's next? Work is already underway on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in the south of France, which promises to be the largest fusion reactor yet – and one that should be capable of breaking even more records. Earth's Magnetic North Pole Is Officially Moving – Scientists Just Updated Its Location This Is Why You Can't Hula Hoop, According to Science Eerie Light Seen in The Sky May Be a New Phenomenon, Scientists Say
