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.

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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.

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.

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