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Chinese scientists say they have achieved a new milestone in the pursuit of viable power generation through nuclear fusion, seen as the Holy Grail for clean energy.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said its pioneering experimental nuclear reactor, dubbed the “artificial Sun”, successfully ran for more than 1,000 seconds – 1,066 to be precise.
For decades, scientists across the globe have attempted to replicate the Sun’s nuclear fusion processes in hopes of providing humanity with a limitless, clean energy source.
A nuclear fusion reactor would merge atomic nuclei, generating massive amounts of energy in the process that can be turned into electricity.
China’s reactor, officially known as the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (East), smashed its previous record operating time of 403 seconds, CAS said in a statement.
A theoretical “artificial Sun” reactor would not produce large volumes of emissions like fossil fuels do, or leave behind any hazardous waste as with the fission process behind commercial nuclear power plants.
However, there are several hurdles in the way of creating a viable fusion reactor, including reaching temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius, maintaining stable long-term operation, and ensuring precise control of the nuclear fusion process.
To enable the self-sustaining circulation of the fourth state of matter, plasma, a fusion device must achieve “stable operation at high efficiency for thousands of seconds,” says Song Yuntao, vice president at CAS’s Hefei Institutes of Physical Science.
The latest record, made possible by upgrades to East since the previous round of experiments, marks a key step toward realising a functional reactor capable of continuous power generation.
“The duration of 1,066 seconds is a critical advancement in fusion research,” CAS said in a statement.
Scientists doubled the power output of the heating system – previously operating at the equivalent power of nearly 70,000 household microwave ovens – while also maintaining stability and continuity.
These achievements, according to researchers, provide “invaluable insights” and references for the global development of a functional nuclear fusion reactor.
Other projects worldwide include the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) programme that began in Marseille, France in 2006. That project was scheduled to become operational – achieving “first plasma” – by this year, but a completion date has been pushed back to the middle of the next decade. It is expected to be the largest nuclear fusion reactor in the world when finished.
China is also responsible for about 9 per cent of ITER’s construction and operation, CAS said in a statement.
“We hope to expand international collaboration via East and bring fusion energy into practical use for humanity,” Dr Yuntao said.
The UK is also planning to build a fusion power plant dubbed the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production, or Step, which aims to achieve first plasma by 2035, and to begin powering homes at some point in the 2040s.
