China's "artificial sun" achieves thousand-second plasma operation

Hefei, December 31, Xinhua News Agency On the last day of 2021, the Hefei Institute of Physical Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences sent news: On the evening of December 30, the full superconducting tokamak nuclear fusion experimental device (EAST), known as the "artificial sun" for plasma physics research, achieved 1056 seconds of long-pulse high-parameter plasma operation, which is the longest time in the world for high-temperature plasma operation of tokamak devices.

EAST is a major national scientific and technological infrastructure approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, with a nuclear fusion reaction mechanism similar to the sun, which is used to explore nuclear fusion energy applications.

The raw materials for nuclear fusion energy are almost inexhaustible on Earth, emitting pollution-free and are regarded as the "ultimate energy source".

The two major difficulties in achieving nuclear fusion power generation are to achieve ignition at hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius and stable long-term confinement control. In recent years, with the support of Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center and other relevant departments, EAST has carried out a series of performance upgrades, and this round of experiments began in early December 2021.

Gong Xianzu, the general head of the east device experimental operation, told reporters: "In the first half of 2021, we maintained the electron temperature plasma of 120 million degrees Celsius for 101 seconds, and this time we maintained the long pulse high-parameter plasma with an electron temperature of nearly 70 million degrees Celsius for 1056 seconds, and the injected energy reached 1.73 gigajoules. These are two different phases of the goal, the realization of the thousand-second plasma operation, laying a solid scientific and experimental foundation for the future construction of steady-state fusion engineering reactors. ”

Experimental devices, experimental reactors, engineering reactors are insurmountable steps aimed at the commercialization of fusion energy, after more than 70 years of joint efforts by the international community, nuclear fusion research has entered the experimental reactor and engineering reactor "chapter" from the experimental device. At present, the plasma current of 1 megaamp, the plasma of electron temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius, and the continuous running time of 1000 seconds have been realized on east.

"Plasma operation on the order of thousands of seconds has once again challenged the world tokamak record, and we have comprehensively validated the plasma control technology for future fusion power generation, driving it from basic research to engineering applications." Song Yuntao, vice president of the Hefei Institute of Physical Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Institute of Plasma Physics, said.

According to the researchers, this round of experiments will last at least until June 2022, and the EAST research team will launch an impact on scientific goals such as higher-parameter steady-state and high-constraint plasma operation under similar conditions in future fusion reactors. (Reporters Chen Nuo, Liu Meizi, Qu Yan)