China's Artificial Sun can rise in 10 years

Chinese scientists have completed work on the China Fusion Test Reactor (CFETR). The project uses all the latest developments and technologies in the field of controlled thermonuclear fusion. If the Chinese government approves the project, scientists promise to turn on the "artificial sun" in a maximum of 10 years.

The CFETR plant, as its name suggests, is still a test project, but unlike the international ITER project it involves generating huge amounts of electricity for businesses and people. China has already proven its ability to demonstrate record-breaking performance in sustaining long-term thermonuclear processes.

For example, the HL-2M Tokamak fusion test reactor was able to maintain a plasma temperature of 120 million °C for 101 seconds in May this year. This is by no means a limit, and the next phases are expected to increase the plasma residence time first to 400 seconds and then to 1000 seconds.

The CFETR project, expected to be fully realized at the China Institute of Plasma Physics, is designed to generate 200 megawatts of power, taking into account heating and plasma confinement losses. This facility could become the first in the world capable of supplying clean energy from a fusion reaction.

Source: scmp

Illustration: Xinhua