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China successfully started its nuclear fusion reactor, an “artificial sun” on Earth, state media reported Friday, cited by the portal phys.org, marking a major advance in the country’s nuclear energy capabilities.
The Tokamak HL-2M reactor is the largest and most advanced experimental nuclear fusion research device in the country, and scientists are hoping the device will unlock a powerful source of clean energy.
The reactor uses a powerful magnetic field to direct and melt the hydrogen plasma and can reach temperatures of over 150 million degrees Celsius – about ten times hotter than the center of the sun – according to the People’s Daily.
Located in southwestern Sichuan province and completed late last year, the reactor is often referred to as the “artificial sun” due to the enormous heat and energy it produces.
“The development of nuclear fusion energy is not only a way to meet China’s strategic energy needs, but also has great significance for the future sustainable development of China’s energy and national economy,” People’s Daily.
Chinese scientists have been working on developing smaller versions of the nuclear fusion reactor since 2006 and plan to use the device in collaboration with scientists working on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the world’s largest nuclear fusion research project. , based in France, which is expected to be completed in 2025.
Nuclear fusion is considered the holy grail of energy, being the process that powers our sun, which in turn joins atomic nuclei to create large amounts of energy, the opposite of the fission process used in atomic weapons and power plants. nuclear, which divides them into fragments.
Unlike fission, fusion does not create radioactive waste and carries a lower risk of accidents or theft of atomic material, but obtaining fusion is extremely difficult and expensive. ITER, for example, an international project being implemented in the south of France, has a total cost of $ 22.5 billion (€ 18.5 billion).
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