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China turns on its ‘artificial sun’ in quest for nuclear fusion energy

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William Zheng, South China Morning Post

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/reuters/10/13/20201002-china-flag.jpg"/><figcaption>The Chinese national flag is seen in Beijing, China April 29, 2020. <em>Thomas Peter, Reuters/File Photo</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>China on Friday made another step forward in its quest for clean energy through controlled nuclear fusion, as it commissioned its new “artificial sun” – a new generation nuclear fusion reactor research facility which operates at a temperature 10 times as hot as the sun.</p><p>According to China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), the HL-2M Tokamak apparatus is able to operate at 150 million degrees Celsius – almost three times hotter than the previous version called HL-2A.</p><p>The ability to generate such ultra-high temperature is essential for the research of fusion process, replicating the way the sun produces energy using hydrogen and deuterium gases as fuels. The sun only operates at a temperature of 15 million degrees Celsius.</p><p>The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), which is under construction in southern France, is designed also to operate at up to 150 million degrees Celsius (270 million Fahrenheit).</p><p>The Korea Institute of Fusion Energy announced about a week ago that its reactor had succeeded in operating at 100 million degree Celsius for at least 20 seconds.</p><p>Yang Qingwei, chief engineer of CNNC’s Institute of Fusion Science at the Southwest Institute of Physics, was quoted by Xinhua on Friday as saying that HL-2M can achieve magnetic plasma confinement time of up to 10 seconds.</p><p>“HL-2M is China’s largest artificial sun with the best parameters,” Xu Min, director of the institute, was quoted as saying.</p><p>The new facility also has three times the plasma volume and six times the plasma current intensity compared with HL-2A, and that will substantially improve the research and development of fusion generator technology in China, according to a statement by CNNC, which oversees the project.</p><p>Yang said the project would become “an important pillar” to ITER, of which China is a member along with the United States, India, Japan, Russia and South Korea.</p><p>China aims to develop its fusion technology as it plans to build an experimental reactor as early as next year, build an industrial prototype by 2035 and go into large-scale commercial use by 2050.</p><p>Beijing released in November a national technology development blueprint committing to achieve breakthroughs in key and core technologies including artificial intelligence, aerospace science and deep Earth and ocean exploration.</p><p>High above the atmosphere, its Chang’e 5 spacecraft on Thursday had lifted 2kg (4.4lbs) of lunar dust and rocks from the Moon to bring back to Earth, while its Tianwen-1 Mars probe spacecraft is expected to arrive at the Red Planet within three months.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/11/25/20/china-moon-rocket-flies-over-luzon-sparks-security-concerns">READ: China moon rocket flies over Luzon, sparks security concerns</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/07/04/20/china-takes-on-more-conflicts-around-the-world">READ: China takes on more conflicts around the world</a></li></ul><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO: </strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oB6_f7YT8I4?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>China has made another step forward in its quest for clean energy through controlled nuclear fusion, as it commissioned its new “artificial sun” – a new generation nuclear fusion reactor research facility which operates at a temperature 10 times as hot as the sun.<br /> </p>

China has made another step forward in its quest for clean energy through controlled nuclear fusion, as it commissioned its new “artificial sun” – a new generation nuclear fusion reactor research facility which operates at a temperature 10 times as hot as the sun.

China turns on its ‘artificial sun’ in quest for nuclear fusion energy

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China turns on its ‘artificial sun’ in quest for nuclear fusion energy

William Zheng,

South China Morning Post

Published Dec 05, 2020 11:48 PM PHT

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