The Chinese Academy of Sciences has exciting news about its fusion reactor that it recently shared in a release.
The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) fusion reactor successfully sustained a plasma temperature of 120 million degrees Celsius for 1,056 seconds, effectively shattering its own record of 101 seconds which was set last spring.
This is a huge achievement for the EAST reactor, also known as the “artificial Sun.” The reactor has the ability to partly replicate the natural nuclear fusion process of stars, which researchers believe could eventually lead to sustainable and, most importantly, clean energy production.
For clean energy production to be accomplished, the EAST reactor must withstand high plasma temperatures. Fusion reactions need to be self-sustaining, and superheated plasma could eventually lead to a self-sustaining reaction.
The team responsible for the reactor is part of the Institute of Plasma Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (AISPP).
“AISPP has a perfect team,” beams Professor Yuntao Song, the director-general of ASIPP. “We will face up to difficulties no matter how hard it is!”
