Latest news with #ASIPP
Al Etihad
15-04-2025
- Science
- Al Etihad
China delivers key components for world's largest 'Artificial Sun'
15 Apr 2025 09:27 HEFEI (AGENCIES)China has completed and shipped the final set of Correction Coil In-Cryostat Feeder components to the site of ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) in southern France, signifying that all the super-large components needed for ITER's magnet feeder system have now been successfully developed, its developer ITER magnet feeder system was developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Plasma Physics (ASIPP), and it is known as the "lifeline" of the ITER magnet system. Its largest component, the Correction Coil In-Cryostat Feeder, comprises nine sets built as half-ring structures measuring 16 metres in diameter and 3 metres in ITER, one of the largest and most important international scientific research projects in the world, is popularly known as "Artificial Sun." This nickname stems from its ability to generate clean, carbon-free energy in a way similar to the sun, by emitting light and heat through fusion ITER is jointly funded by the European Union, China, the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India and to Lu Kun, Deputy Director of ASIPP, the magnet feeder system is crucial to ITER. It provides energy and cooling media to the fusion reactor magnets, sends back critical control signals, and also acts as a discharge channel to safely release stored magnet manufactured and tested by ASIPP, the system is the most complex of China's ITER procurement packages, consisting of a total of 31 sets, with a total weight of about 1,600 tonnes, Lu added. Song Yuntao, Vice President of the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science and Director of ASIPP, noted that over the past 20 years, ASIPP has built stable collaborative relationships with more than 140 research institutions across over 50 countries, assisting many emerging countries in developing their own fusion research programmes and facilities.
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
